meredith cutler :: arts marketing :: artist

Yesterday was the day of the amazing journey. I made my $28.84 way home (including gas) to Providence, from Williamsburg, via a snaking, pulsing and sometimes oozing network of mass-transit, adrenaline, fantastic timing and pure luck. I feel like Ferris Buehler.

I have to say my favorite part of the journey took place around Rockefeller Center, where I ran smack into the gooey center of a full-on Saint Patrick's Day parade. Che casino! How can it be that I am from Boston, yet totally blanked on Saint Patrick's Day until the beer breath of hundreds of thousands of green-hatted drunken revelers on W51st and 5th Avenue smacked me upside the head?

New York was a craic; I'm still downloading my mental notes on the shows I was able to breeze through between bars. But until then, as a tribute to my favorite art school professor inspired adjective of all time, behold:

See if you can guess what it is (hint: it's not hot).

Anyone with eyes, ears and a wallet knows that these days are lean days here in the good ol' U.S.A. As a veteran of art school, student loans, freelancing, layoffs and studio life, I have seen my share of these times through (with nary a scar on my credit rating, I might add). Although our current economic climate can be a bit anxiety provoking, in a way I welcome the familiar challenge of tightening the belt. It reminds me how to prioritize, how to edit and how to live as well as I can at all times. The secret? The above three points are key ingredients to a successful life.

As a blushing newlywed, I find myself in charge of our household finances, as well as much (though not all!) of the meal planning. Good thing, too: I have plenty of experience in budgeting, from my nitty-gritty basement arts collaborative days to a 500K corporate trade show budget…you could say I know my way around a spreadsheet (just adjust the zeroes to get where we are right about now :).

My lovely mother recently sent an insightful email on Peter Menzel's photo documentary Hungry Planet, which highlights families around the world, depicting all household members alongside their weekly grocery purchases, and noting the amount spent (both in local currency and U.S. dollars). I found this book simply fascinating, and given the far reaching economic, ecological and health implications of our “weekly bread”, felt inspired to add to the project.

Unfortunately, my better half has been burning the night oil as of late, and I assumed the role of photographer, so we are not depicted alongside our haul.  Needless to say, we are a household of two (alas, no children or pets!)

As you can see, we keep a vegetarian house, and it is my goal to keep our menu full of as many whole foods as possible. And folks...if you have to buy pasta (which you do if your husband is from Italy), buy DeCecco.

Total amount spent: $110.73*
*Includes $0.15 credit for bringing our own, reusable grocery bags!

Here's a calorie-burning, life-affirming, utterly wacktastic participatory arts activity to help you while away your extra day of calendarial life: Performance artist Brian Feldman is challenging you (yes, you) to contemplate how you will spend your extra 1,440 minutes on this February 29, 2008, by leaping off of a 12-foot platform in front of Orlando City Hall every 3 minutes and 56 seconds, for a total of 366 occurances during the 24 hours of leap day. Will somebody get this guy a Red Bull? (Whee!)

As if we don't already have an overwhelming array of online time-wasters (I mean, ahem, enriching online activities), now I discover the new online networking community of "ItSpace".

A clever derivative of the now ubiquitous MySpace, ItSpace makes its mark on cyberspace by allowing inanimate, household objects to "network" with each other via the beautiful music trapped just beneath their shiny (or soft) surfaces.

And just HOW does this apply to reality (cyber or no) you might ask? Users are asked to record the sounds made with a household object, and to create a musical piece using just these sounds. Then, by uploading the musical clip along with a photograph of the object, a profile is created. Objects may then "befriend" other inanimate objects whose profiles are already included on the site. Another means of enjoying ItSpace is to remix existing objects (or, better yet, create a mashup! Blender, anyone?)

If anyone from the 9yds. days has a recording of that infamous '00 kitchen appliance and powertool jam at 40 Newcastle, please send it my way!

This has been an a-typical holiday season for yours truly, due in part to a new domestic role as holiday hostess, and in part to a much-needed change of career path.

This road-less-travelled effectively negating a much dreaded, annual business trip, always undertaken at the frigid, painful crack of dawn after New Years, and terminating no less than 3 weeks later (usually during a blizzard). Collateral damage ≥: jet-lag, post-traumatic stress syndrome, hearing loss, viamin deficiency, and unecessary exposure to the psychological tics of the overpaid, underappreciated and often ungracefully aging rock stars.

So, for once, I can actually approach my January with all of the promises and fervor of the optimist! I hereby declare January 2008 to be the best January ever.

 Shame it's only 18 degrees outside, as I could really go for a sail...