The results of the выставка and other things I have been up to since Wednesday.

So, I know I left you all hanging. Sorry about that. I've been busy! But you'll be pleased to know that the result of the cliffhanger of the last entry was successful.

My art opening ("выставка") went really well. So much better than I thought. I left my last film class a little early to set up and add some Christmas lights to the mix (I could not find simple strands of solid, white Christmas lights anywhere, so I thought I purchased solid, white icicle lights... but turns out they blink a little bit.... it seems to be a rule that any and all Christmas lights and New Year's decorations in this country have to flash and/or be as loud and/or tacky as possible. Oh well. The effect still worked). Ilana also ran out for a little wine & champagne & crackers and I contributed my candy from the "awards lunch" which had been earlier that day (the awards lunch is the final lunch to say good bye to the RSL teachers.... and Elena, Yulia & Bryan give out "awards" to all the students who are leaving, and candy to the returning students) and then we waited. And I was genuinely surprised by how many people came by. Ilana, Carrie, Liza, Marianna, Heather, Lauren, Emma, Matt, Bryan..... and the show actually is in a good location, a strange but good location, because it picked up a lot of strays who were just wandering through on their way to or from the library.

It was still unbelievably bizarre to have all these people standing around looking at 184 photos of myself though. Really bizarre. So I mostly hung towards the door and chose music from Ilana's computer to play and drank wine while taking photos of people looking at my photos. People noticed some things though that I had overlooked and were just really observant in general about small details, I was impressed. There were also a lot of comments about how the photos together looked really good, like a kaleidoscope or something. John Nelson suggested I change the name of the show to "Unquestionably E.B." Ha. And I had an idea that when I show the final year at the end of the spring semester (Marianna said she thinks it is going to look really cool with the first six months having one look from one apartment and the second six having a different look in a different apartment), I am going to make scavenger hunt sheets like Where's Waldo? or I Spy and people can go through and hunt for certain things such as: find 4 umbrellas, find 6 Ami Lis, find 1 Russian flag, etc. It'll make it maybe a little more interactive of a show.

Some interesting things I learned about the project from showing it though. These were the top five questions that I was asked throughout the evening:
1. Do you take the photos at the same time every day?
2. Do you use the same camera to take all of the photos?
3. Do you always take the photos at home?
4. Are you going to keep taking the photos when at home in January?
5. You really haven't forgotten a day?

Well, here are the answers for you:
1. No. Sometimes they're before I leave in the morning, sometimes after I come home late at night, sometimes when I happen to be at home in the afternoon between things.
2. Yes. My Nikon D80 digital SLR. I even use the same exact settings.
3. When possible, yes. If I am away from home for more than one night traveling, then I take them sitting on whereever I am sleeping, trying to recreate the same frame as much as possible.
4. Yes. Originally I wasn't sure, but it is a full 365 days.... it would be weird to have a two week vacation in there. Plus, my friend Liza said these photos came be for her, all worried about "how far away" I'll be in the US, just like how the photos were originally for my mom, worried about "how far away" I am in Russia.
5. Not yet.

Also, if you are interested, here is my artist statement that I hung up on the wall:


artist statement:
My mother is a nervous lady, and when I decided to live in Russia for a year, she was not very pleased with the idea.
“How will I know you’re still alive?!?” she asked me.
So, as a joke, I said I would photograph myself every day the whole time I would be there, and then put the photos on my website for her.
And then I thought why not? and actually began the project. Then it became more than a joke.
While certainly a satire of my life sometimes, it is also a study of how I am changing every day during this year.
Just look at how much longer my hair is!
-- Elizabeth “E.B.” Andersen Bartels

The project continues:
www.pbase.com/theeeebster/self_portrait_project


заявление художника:
Моя мама очень нервная женщина, и когда, я решила жить в России один год, ей не очень понравилась идея.
«Как я буду знать, что ты ещё живая?!?» она сросила меня.
Поэтому, шутки ради, я сказала, что буду фотографировать себя, каждый день все время моего пребывания в России, а потом помещу фотографии на моем сайте для неё.
А потом, я подумала, почему нет? и на самом деле начала проект. Теперь он перерос в нечто большее, чем просто шутка.
Конечно это в некотором роде сатира на мою жизнь, этот также исследование того, как я изменяюсь каждый день в этом году.
Просто посмотрите какими длинными стали мои волосы!
-- Элизабет «Иби» Андерсен Бартелс

Проект продолжается:
www.pbase.com/theeeebster/self_portrait_project



And, finally, people's favorites? Well, everyone loves the one in Helsinki, 8/11/08, I think because it is simply the best lit and the color of that wall in that hostel is gorgeous. It's too bad I couldn't do my entire project in that room.

Over all, I'm really pleased with how the show came out. It forced me to make a final product out of one of my many ongoing projects -- something I rarely get my act together to do unless I am getting a grade in an art class -- and it made me really think about the whole project. So that was really good.

And then on Friday, in our final Bakhtin class, I presented my project and discussed it in terms of Bakhtin and how he would view it, and while at first I thought this is going to be super dumb and pointless, we actually had a really good, helpful and interesting conversation about aspects of my project. We talked about how I incorporated text with the photos (for the show, I actually wrote the dates on the photos themselves, on the top usually, to the left side usually, in Sharpie, and then any comments that are usually found below the photos on the site were written on the photos themselves, sometimes with arrows pointng out the guests or certain items/props in the photographs) and what this meant, and if it was too much or too little or helpful or distracting. We talked about that famous Roland Barthes book about photography, Camera Lucida, and the "look" of who I am addressing in the photographs and who I am imagining I am looking at when I take each picture. We talked about whether this project was creating "violence" on my life, and the journal-ness of the idea, and how the project will be different when I present it when the 365 days are over and complete, and if maybe the show is more effective when it is in the process of happening, but that could really only happen right here, in Russia, right now, in the middle of the year. It was a good talk, and I have to summarize it for my final paper, which actually might be kind of enjoyable.

So, that took up the end of my week pretty solidly. As for my weekend, it was also busy as hell, but in a different way. I spent a lot of time hanging out with people who are leaving soon such as Cathy (already gone) and Bryan (leaving tomorrow). There was a little outing to The Other Side, the expat bar, where I ran into Meri's friend from Georgetown, Tim. There was an intense game of Rook, which Emma and I won because we can now communicate telepathically. Our last printmaking class was also last-minute canceled, so on Saturday I finished my Christmas shopping (heyyooooo!) and had perhaps THE most successful day ever at Udelnaya yesterday with Emma, Pinski and Will. I can't list all of the amazing old shitty treasures I found as some of them are Christmas presents (you lucky dogs you), but it was amazing. I came in with a little list and came out with everything on it that I had been intending to find. What the hell. Udelnaya isn't Stop & Shop. What is going on here?

This is a very short week that is starting today -- only three days long really -- full of one film class exam and one paper about Bakhtin and art, but also one last excursion to the ballet, our final dinner, and then sending off the first batch of people from the group who are flying out on Thursday. And then, I'm off for six days of traveling with Emma and Katy, which I am quited excited about as by the time we leave, I should be done, done, done, done, DONE, with all of my nonsense. Thank god. Then I'll come back and just have to focus on moving my shit over to the apartment and trying to run into Wellesley girls in some Russian city or another.

So, that's the written update. But also so many photo updates for you!

Finally two homemade darkroom prints in the film section, starting here.... a random roll of black & white I shot with my Nikon SLR after it snowed for the first time.... self portraits since December 14th, including my play with infinity..... and a shitload of new digital photos including highlights such as saying good bye to Vanessa, my birthday, a rowdy game of Clue and my 365 days show opening....

WHEW.