In which I talk a little bit about the things I learned last year, and the things I would like to do in 2011.

Previously, some introspection. Here’s Part II.

As much as I would like to downplay 2010, it really has been a significant year. It doesn’t seem so, whenever I look back on the days where I would waste away in front of a computer screen, but I think I did a lot of growing up.

Some lessons I arrived at in 2010, with links to the original blog posts, if you care to re-read them:

• The Importance of Being Earnest — In which I try to not care about what other people thought. (March 2010.)
• Things I Have Learned From Beatles Rockband: Life and Art Edition — In which I learn just how important Timing is, with the help of a video game, painting woes, and The Album Leaf. (June 2010.)
• The Trouble With Pretending — In which I realize that Your Best Bet Is To Be Yourself. With a little help from the likes of KVJ, Kurt Cobain, Salvador Dali, and JKR. (September 2010.)
• Life Lessons Told In Seven Acts — In which it took a trip out of the country to make me realize that a) I do like spending a considerable amount of time alone, b) you can understand The Big Things by getting to know the smaller, more specific things. (September 2010.)
• Making Time & Making Space: October, I Hated You A Little Bit — In which I learned that some things ask for patience with the enormity and range of a continuum in exchange for growth. (October 2010.)
• November’s Battlecry — In which I realize that it’s never too late to instigate changes in your life. Most of my goals were unsuccessful, but I think the lesson is still there, so it still counts. (November 2010.)
• Progress Report: Deerest (5 June – 6 Dec) — In which slow and steady won the race. (December 2010.)

More than anything, 2010 was for self-discovery. I feel like I’ve really been tested by so many things, and I’m slowly starting to see just what kind of person I am. I think 2011 might be more for making the changes I’d like to make, because there are a few that I can think of. I don’t think I’m necessarily a bad person, but I know I’d like to work on things like negativity and the lack of productivity, like listlessness, like letting the little things go, like enjoying things for what they are instead of agonizing over what they don’t turn out to be. Like the semi-permanent scowling!

I feel like 2010 was such a big year, but it was followed around by a dumb, relentless, dark cloud that just sort of sits there all the time and ruins the view. So, I want to see as little of that dark cloud as possible this time around. I want to worry less, and really have that ability to just focus on the things that I can control, instead of losing my shit over the things that I can’t.

As for goals and resolutions, I really have a lot of those. Some of them are really specific (e.g. learn how to drive, build a painting portfolio, write regularly, be better at my job, finish the Bible, keep a budget, etc.) and some are not exactly quantifiable (e.g. be nicer to people, stop propagating bad conversations about people, forget your credit card’s security code). I think this year is going to be about being more, trying more, doing more, and so on.

But like I said, Courage and Kindness are some things I’d like to still carry with me this year. Hopefully.

I think I’m keeping some goals and resolutions to myself, and I think I might give myself a break and not feel like a failure when I end up not getting to do some of the things. Yoda said, “Do or do not. There is no try.” And, I mean no disrespect when I say that I disagree, because I really feel like it takes a lot of courage to simply try. In trying, there is a conscious choosing of something uncertain. There is a moment where you decide to go for it despite the absence of the assurance of success. I think that speaks even louder than outright success.

First thing tomorrow, though, I’m going to give my productivity a swift kick in the shins and ask him where he’s been hiding all this time. And then, I’ll see where we go from there.

I absolutely love looking at studios and workspaces. I don’t know if it’s because I am just plain nosy, or if this inclination towards seeing the spaces where a person makes things happen has a deeper, more meaningful motivation behind it. I just really, love looking at people’s spaces. I feel like it says a lot about who they are and how they work. Here are some of my favorite workspace-related blogs, in case you were curious:

• Workspaces, Tumblr
• Anik-Anik Love (Filipino creatives)
• Workspaces, Share Some Candy

The point of this post: My brother and I tagged along with my parents, who were having a meeting with Manuel Ocampo. You must understand that I am pretty much in awe of this man. Aside from being an art world BAMF with his name in lights all over the world, he was also partly responsible for the art inside Beck’s Odelay. Degrees of separation down to three! (Two? How do you count them?) Despite that, he is also quite nice and sincere. I wrote about him and his curatorial debut, a group exhibit comprised of Filipino artists held in Berlin, in UNO Magazine, for their October issue. (Solenn Heussaff was on the cover, my heart!)

(I do that with my shirt whenever I feel awkward/displaced. Good of my dad to capture it on film?)

Anyway, what was supposed to be a meeting turned out to be a studio visit to two other artists’ spaces—Gerry Tan’s and David Grigg’s—and a gallery, all of which were conveniently located not three minutes away from each other. Here are a few photos, the rest will be under the cut.

Seeing these workspaces reminded me of the reason behind the name of this little home for me, my sacred space. Taking the name from Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” my favorite book, where he talks about “Nothing Places.” To quote:

“[W]e started marking off areas in the apartment as “Nothing Places,” in which one could be assured of complete privacy, we agreed that we never would look at the marked-off zones, that they would be nonexistent territories in the apartment in which one could temporarily cease to exist…”

The idea of my own little area, to be who I am and make what I like, regardless of other factors, is so appealing to me. I think that’s maybe why I always talk about wanting to move out. It’s not that I’m tired of the people I live with (because, at the very end of it, I do love my family very much), or that my circumstances are at all inconvenient. I just really think that I maybe need a space—mine—to be me, without having to explain or apologize or hold back. I think I just really need to mark off my own Nothing Spaces, beyond the screen.

Perhaps in 2011? For now, I’ll make do with what I have, try to be the most of myself that I can be.

Loads more photos under the cut. They’re pretty interesting. :)

Continue reading Studio Visits & Nothing Places….

Hello! In the last post, I talked about how sick I was and how I’m supposedly on the mend. It turns out, I actually wasn’t and had to be hospitalized for a couple of days because I somehow contracted a mild case of dengue fever. (It is the pits.) I don’t know how that happened, since I don’t really go out… like at all. But anyway, the point is, I am all better now. I think I will reserve my Hellacious Tales From The Hospital for another entry, mostly because I don’t really feel like talking about that crap and also, it seems a little ungrateful of me to be whining about something when I am actually feeling a little bit better.

So I’ll reserve those stories when my day becomes particularly dour and I need a scapegoat.

That’s the Master Plan, at least. And, quite frankly, I am pretty excited.

So, I’ve been toying with the idea of selling stuff I make online. I’ve been working on some badges/buttons (like the ones I used for my thesis, but also another new ‘set’ that, in my humble opinion, is pretty exciting), since people seem to love those. But then, I’m thinking of making some prints as well.

These are A5 in size (or half of A4) and 3/4 are references of things dear to my heart.

Yes/No? What do you think? Should I make more or should I just stick to my day job? (LOLJK, I don’t have a dayjob.) Let me know what you think, please. I’d really appreciate it.

Suggestions (of what else to make—as in, shirts, tote bags, etc?) are also most welcome.

Love,
Carina

P.S. Sorry for the stupid title. I haven’t even read that play.

Was supposed to post the winners yesterday, but I had server issues, so apologies for that!

Anyway, because my parents are amazing people, I have drawn 5 names, instead of 2! So, I’m giving away 5 pairs of tickets to the ManilArt 10. I used http://random.org to draw the names.

1. #2 Mara
2. #8 Krinessa
3. #23 Jeric Rustia
4. #25 Nante
5. #29 Tim

Because I drew Tim’s and Krinessa’s names first (so they are, technically, the original winners), they will be the only people I can probably LBC/mail the tickets to. Please send me an e-mail to yankee@nothingspaces.com. To the rest of the winners, let me know if you can pick up the tickets from West Gallery, 48 West Avenue, Quezon City. Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm, Monday to Saturday. If not, send me an e-mail so we can arrange something.

Yay, congratulations!

For other ticket concerns, please send an e-mail to jonsy@manilart.com. I’ll ask about the tickets (if they will sell onsite, etc) and make an update for everyone else interested.

Was working through my iTunes playlist and felt in the mood to make a small mix. There’s going to be a Part Two, because it just seems like it is unfinished. Might even have a part three, who knows?

1. I’m Leaving You Because I Don’t Love You • Jens Lekman
2. Atoms • Emmy the Great
3. Don’t Leave the Light On Baby • Belle & Sebastian
4. Love Me Then Leave Me • Laura Marling
5. Please Do Not Let Me Go • Ryan Adams
6. So Long, Lonesome • exposions in the sky
7. 2:45 AM • Elliott Smith
8. KLM Line (Acoustic) • The Fairways
9. A Lack of Color • Death Cab for Cutie
10. Let It Die • Feist
11. …And He Left With Everything He Came For • Don’t Forget, Clementine

Download here: .zip file

I’m working on a new layout and some entries about some ideas that I’ve been mulling over (Hong Kong, television — big surprise!, RockBand, et cetera).