coyotes at wolf park

Went to Wolf Park (http://www.wolfpark.org) on Saturday to take a tour and shoot some pictures of the wolves. Wolves are not dogs. The blood frozen on the snow and was impressive.

They also have two coyotes at the park,Twister and Willow. A male and a female from Utah. I was excited about this because I have been thinking about making a piece with coyotes in it. Thinking about a play on a french phrase expressing liminality or twilight. L'heure entre chien et loup literally translates "the time between dog and wolf". I think of a coyote as being between a dog and wolf. Last year when I had to rush to the hospital a coyote stood in the middle of the road on the bridge as I crossed the river. I had to drive around it. I thought it was strange and significant. Since then I have felt a connection to coyotes as a symbol of liminality. The idea of a coyote on a bridge reinforces this idea of being neither here nor there. I plan to use the images as sources for some drawings.

Humans enter the fenced in area with the wolves and they offer photography workshops at the park. But, due to the volatile nature of the coyotes, only experienced staff members visit them. I wanted some images without the fence in front but that was not possible. Maybe I'll think of a solution or run into a coyote in the wild but for now I'll just work on the drawings.

Canceled Shows- work too controversial

I checked my email today to find two shows I had scheduled for 2011 are canceled. Feeling overwhelmed by rejection. Need to find a hundred extra hours this week for the new work!

It turns out that the venue for “The Doctrine of Unclean Hands” has communicated a dissatisfaction with the overall work selected. They expressed the work was "too controversial and requested a more conservative show." As a result, the show dates have been pushed back to 2012 and 1 Op Collective has been advised to revise the theme to “The Abandoned Landscape” to suite the venue’s preference. Unfortunately, they will "not be able to show my chosen works."

Feels like a repeat of September's rejection from the

Indianapolis International Airport. "I believe that the form your work takes is visually stunning and a good use of the display ... I appreciate the amount of hand labor inherent in your process. However, I feel that the impetus behind it and the narrative content that you explain in your artist statement is not appropriate for the airport context.

The themes you address are not specifically disallowed by the stated guidelines for art in the airport; nevertheless, we try to keep expressions of illness, death or extreme unhappiness out of the airport experience, which has its own set of potential fears and apprehensions. "

Also the 3 person Mock Academy show was canceled at Lala. The reason was that there were "not enough artists to make that happen".

The Doctrine of Unclean Hands

I was accepted to participate in “The Doctrine of Unclean Hands,” a group show in exploration of right vs. wrong. This exhibition will be within the appropriate legal context afforded by the Seton Hall University Law Building in New Jersey (http://law.shu.edu/). The show is curated by 1 Op Collective and presented by City Without Walls. The above framed photographs of melted bottles will be in this show.

Happy New Year!!

New Website is up check it out...

jasminebegeske.com

more signage in the heartland

Hand Made Signage

Been driving through Medaryville in White Post township on a semi weekly basis. I decided to shoot some of the handmade signs. Medaryville is struggling economically like most of the forgotten towns on US421. Many of the local businesses still paint their own signs. I think this adds some interest and personality to the face of the town. We are so used to seeing big slick machine produced, edited words or corporation logos. Every giant Walmart sign looks like every other giant Walmart sign.

The liquor store owner came out to talk to me. I think he was trying to scare me away at first. But I sweet talked him a bit and complimented his handy work. I said it was more interesting than ugly. He laughed. I said I'd buy some beer but I was on my way to work and wanted to make it there. He said I could take all the pictures I wanted. I should have taken his, but I didn't want to push it.

by the skin of my teeth

"by the skin of my teeth"

by a very small margin, barely; succeed by a minimal measure

used when expressing how difficult something was to achieve

I commandeered an empty classroom while in Bloomington to document this piece. I've never had a wall big enough to install it. I made these prints a few years ago. They are heavily layered screen prints with small ID-like photographs in the corners. There are 32 prints and they are hanging in two rows to represent the number of permanent teeth we have. They show a misunderstanding and confusion I had as a kid. I associated troubles with reading and frustration with a trip to the dentist. It had a little something to do with wisdom teeth and now as an adult I can barely remember it. I want to do a series about teeth eventually.