I recently realized that the two site I've been reading regularly are opposites. The two site that I've take a particular interest to are John Maeda's Simplicity and Jarred Tarbell's Complexification . Even though both sites are opposites by tile, they both have more in common than one might think.

While at FITC earlier this month I attended Jarred Tarbell's presentation and was lucky enough to win a substrate print. I guessed Phi to the third decimal. Nerd. I took a particular interest in Tarbell's work not only because its amazing to look at and play with, but, more so because Tarbell uses simple rules to solve complex problems. Simplicity has been the focus of Maede's writing, on his website at least. Maeda too attempts to simplify the complex through the reduction of noise and by attempting to use simple rules repeatedly to create complex results.

Why I've found my self attracted to these two artists work, I'm still not sure, but, I've been realizing that the dichotomy in life is powerful and can provide insight into how we might approach problems for another direction.

I realized today, as I looked out at the sunset from our 10th story apartment that there were others who had stopped to look as well. Three people in the building next to me were also taking a moment to enjoy the view. The moment of shared common experience felt slightly awkward; like somehow the experience had been devalued because it was now no longer just my own.

The two other interesting connections that this experience evoked was the realization that, I'm lucky to be able to see the sun set from my building. I''m lucky for allot of things but, not everybody gets to have that experience, that connects everybody around the world, gradually, just for a moment. More importantly, I realized that the people I had observed, watching the sunset was a moment similar to that described in some of the IA+D work by the seniors at MIAD.

The MIAD senior thesis exhibits had a pre-viewing last night. There is some great work this year. The school gets incrementally better and better every year. There seems to be a them of your designers wanting to take on fashion design, even though there is no fashion design major. If you are in the Milwaukee area, the official opening is this friday, Gallery Night.

Ashley O'Dell has some interesting work up in the Gas Light building. Her work explores irony in story tales if they were reality. The relationship between image, color, light, real, and surreal is thoroughly explored. My IA+D students websites aren't due for a couple more weeks. Once they're up, I'll post some links. Maybe Rob will send me some photos from last night too. He's the one who had the camera, as to be expected.

Tricia and I rolled in from FITC last night. It was absolutely amazing! I knew the list speaker list was great, but, I wasn't expecting to such a diverse range in the types of works. There were many pleasant surprises. I won a book (New Masters of Flash) from Keith Peters (Bit-101) and a substrate print from Jared Tarbell, (Complexification.net). I'll be writing more about the individual presentations when I have time throughout the week.

Blue Dot recently posted a short film title Seven Twenty. The film is cute. The accompanying clock from the film is what's awesome. The downloadable clock runs on the desktop and uses images captured from our everyday environment. Somewhat reminiscent of the Time-aid watch from Timex 2154, the analog numbers are captivating. In both examples, you are immediately made aware of the the physical/digital relationship causing an intriguing awareness of the contradiction.

This past weekend Allen and I made our first trip out to Devils Lake. Its finally warm enough in Wisconsin to get outside a bit, and, I'll never miss an opportunity to get up on some rock. We kicked off the season with style; first I lead Double Overhang, a and 5.4 on Rainy Wednesday Tower, then we pulled False Alarm Jam a 5.6, and to finish things off, Allen lead Death and Transfiguration 5.5 down at Pseudo Hawks Nest.

The park is in an interesting in between season and I like it. Winter has ended but spring hasn't started yet. You can see through the forest, literally. Its the only time you can see the patters of fallen trees on the forest floor. Seeing through the forest as metaphor for life is particularly relevant to me and my life right now. I accepted the offer to attend NYU this fall. All will change, except the seasons and the forest at the lake.