S1E17

Here's the next set of 256 panels......or at least 2 of the 256 that will complete this segment. I love that s1e28 one because it's of the newest, most abstract variety. It, too, though, will, through time, start to look more like the rest of the map. (Five commas in a sixteen-word sentence! Anybody think that might set a record?)

Reflections on the preciousness of art

When I have shown sections of my map in galleries I have encouraged people to run their hands over the surface so that they could distinguish between parts that were photocopy and parts that were "first generation" collage or acrylic. Some people were horrified. The look-don't-touch principle applies to most art that is put on display.

But, as I said in a recent blog posting, my art is "of this world." I like that it responds to the world it inhabits, that kids with grubby fingers leave slight smudges, that a few drops of water from my freshly rinsed brush make the inkjet print bleed, that the acid-ful paper of the earliest panels yellows and cracks.

I suppose that what most artists cater to is part self-monumentalization and part succumbing to the requirements of the art buying patrons that their precious investment never fade, crack, smear, shrink, or be altered in any other way.

But life is about change. Time is change. All art will, at some time, disappear. I don't want my map to disappear. That's not the point. I just want it to reflect its having been in the world.




Another nearly empty "quadrant".....sigh

The next 256-panel segment of sold panels. Hmmmm.....Maybe some of you will respond to my newest offer: naming a Map feature for you! In my latest eBay postings I promised the buyer that I would name a major Map feature for him or her. That way some of you who are not guest artists in waiting can make a connection with The Map. This project is, after all, of this world, and not out of this world! More on that issue later!

About "guest panels"

One aspect of The Map which could use a little more elaboration is the Guest Panel. I invite anyone to submit 2-D artwork for incorporation into The Map. The artist understands that his or her art will be copied and transformed over time. It will be added, as a sheet itself, to The Map, and a copy of it will be used to collage other panels.The original submission will, in subsequent Map generations, be blended with its surroundings.

So, if you are an artist or want to be, let me know! I will be happy to include your work in mine.

Another "quadrant" of panels

This new grid of 256 panels isn't very exciting, I know. Only one panel in this sector has been bought to date, and you can see it above. There will have to be at least ten of these sectors to show the whole map since the Map now covers about 2400 panels. Sales of panels have slowed a bit now, but I hope to be posting new sectors soon.

The next installment

Here's the next quadrant of sold panels....ahem! Only one panel to date, S6W19, has been sold in this quadrant which runs from S1 to 16 and W17 to 32. I hope that some of you will step up and buy some of those other panels. They are being offered on eBay right now with a starting bid of $1!

It will be exciting to see these pages fill up. You can help!

Thanks!

Where am I?

This image represents the panels which have been purchased to date in the nearest (N1 to 16 and W 1 to 16) northwest quadrant. I figured out how, with the help of my Open Office software, to set up this grid and load scans into it. Hurray! This was a big breakthrough for me. Now if someone will just set up a similar grid on the internet we can begin to assemble the whole map there.

I'll add other quadrants as eBay sales are made.

My other life

Contrary to the general conjecture in the vimeo comments I am not a recluse or a hermit but lead a pretty ordinary life. If you'd like to know more about it my wife, Meg Staley, has a blog, too, and that's a good place to start: right here!

Thanks again for your comments and please keep letting me know what you'd like more of!

The Journal

As I work on The Map I record changes to the rules in a journal. I started it in 2003 when I resumed work on this project. I now also record changes in the color palette. Let me know if you'd like to see more!

What's in the cards....

Here are the last nine cards drawn in the process of making The Map. As you can see, there is a lot of emphasis on scanning since it is such a daunting task. I tell people that it is like painting the Golden Gate Bridge- it's never finished. However, I do let myself change the instructions on the cards. I make my execute the current instruction and then change it for the next time that card is drawn.

In the deck somewhere is one card which reads, "Shuffle the deck and add one new card." The deck gets shuffled three times and then cut. The new card's instruction comes from a wait list of tasks that I want to see incorporated into the making of The Map.


And the winner is......N1/W14!

I drew the ten of clubs today and moved ten more panels down in the stack. That put me at N1/W14. The instruction was to make map blanks, the patched together heavy paper panels I use as a base for the painting and collageing. I have been doing this since the fall of 2009. You will start to see beer, pretzel, and cereal boxes as well as ticket stubs and old shopping lists.

You may be relieved to know that I put in a new cartridge today, and the print colors resemble reality. Yay!

Back in the saddle

I got back to my studio in Cold Spring, New York a couple of hours ago from our old farm in Northern Michigan. On the way back I resolved to try to give you more insight into The Map via this blog. I'll try to do a post every day and explain the steps as I go. I will also try to put a new panel on eBay each morning.

So.......I drew the next card- the four of clubs with an instruction to either make a new sheet of reduced (1/16) images or, if I didn't have the scans I needed to do that then to do more scans from where I left off last time. I haven't checked yet to see which will happen.

Then I counted down four sheets in the current stack I am working on (N1 and N2). That took me to the sheet above, N1/W24. I made two copies. The original  (a generation II) will be archived, one copy will become the new generation III, and the other copy will be offered on eBay soon. The colors came out way off from the original, but part of the random function of my rules dictates that the miscolored print must be used as is. Tomorrow I will try to resolve the printing issue.

I am working now on adding collage to N1/W24 and adjoining panels. I work in a clockwise manor along the periphery of what had been painted in generation I. Had the card been a red suit I would have worked counter clockwise.

Any questions?





Let's try again.......

I was reading some of the comments on The Map video last night and realized that some of you might want a Map print. So, I have started to re-list a few on eBay to see how it goes. The ones I had on there recently didn't sell. This time around I will put them out to auction. So...take a look!

And send me your questions......

Thanks!


Wow! Thanks, Vimeo!


Greg Whitmore, the videographer who made the short film of me and The Map, called me this afternoon to say that the editors of Vimeo, the website where we posted the clip, had listed ours as a "favorite" on their homepage. Now over 50,000 people have seen it. Wow!

You can check it out by searching "Jerry Gretzinger" at vimeo.com. (Sorry I am not organized enough to give you a simple link.)

But a huge thank you to Greg and to Vimeo and to son, Henry, and to the folks who have posted very nice comments after seeing The Map!


A new Map collage

UICA in Grand Rapids is having an opening show in July, and I am submitting some Map prints. But, because the request is for works that measure 7 by 11 inches (and my panel prints are 8 by 10), I have patchworked some prints together into the new format.  I found the results so satisfying that I may offer some of these collages on eBay. I will let you know! What do you think?

ArtPrize 2011 is coming!

ArtPrize 2011 opens in Grand Rapids on September 21. I have registered and am hoping to find a venue big enough to accommodate the entire Map (on the floor). This is no simple task since the current over-all measurements are about 40 by 40 feet. The last time the whole thing was assembled was in our loft in New York in 1982, and it only comprised 800 panels back then.

I visited the lobby of DeVos place the other day, and that would be perfect! There are balconies on two sides which would allow viewers to see the entire project from above. The next step will be to contact the person in charge of that venue.

If we can come up with a venue like that one,  our friend, Greg Whitmore, will make a trip out with his video equipment. He's the guy who made the video that is linked to this blog. Now he wants to film the entire Map to incorporate into a documentary which he would like to show at film festivals. It will be great for me, The Map, and Grand Rapids if we make this happen!

Here we go!

Real Estate Sale!

The Map is for sale again! I have posted several prints on eBay recently. They are 8 by 10" (the original size of the panel) and are inkjetted onto 110-pound paper. Each one is signed and dated and can be mounted easily in a 10 by 14 frame. At $19 apiece you can't go wrong.

Start your collection right now!

Thanks!