I think 2016 started with the thought that it couldn’t be more challenging than 2015. If change is a challenge, 2016 definitely was that.
It started out slowly, ensconced in the modest house I bought in Prescott in 2014 that contained my full art-media-production studio and archive in Prescott, Arizona. As the art-scene in Prescott consists mostly of bronze cowboys, turquoise-and-silver jewelry, and paintings of blue-eyed Indian children, my work had to be virtual and remote: Patrick of framework:afield invites a piece for his internationally syndicated weekly program on field recording; Arts Birthday; AudioBlast; Reveil 2016; continuing contributions to aporee::maps; and, later, Radiophrenia (Glasgow). Portrait work continues but I haven’t really put any new landscape images online for awhile.
One local exception came when Tom, the director of the Natural History Institute invited me to do a public lecture and workshop on ‘acoustic ecology’ titled “A Natural History of Sound” in March.
April saw something of a (Plotner) family conclave for Al’s interment at the Antelope Hills cemetery. I was the sole representative from the Hopkins/MacKenzie side of the family. Good to see those folks again, might be awhile before the next family-type conclave.
I spent significant time the past couple years on a conceptual re-development of the Ecosa Institute‘s ‘regenerative design’ curriculum with a small group of folks along with volunteer work at the nascent Milagro Art Center.
After I left Prescott (explanation following), both organizations more-or-less imploded. Coincidence? Perhaps, but I saw the writing on the wall: lousy management, and in the Milagro case, the Exec. Director was terrified by anyone who might know more than she regarding photography, new media, arts management, creativity, organizing, you name it. In the cultural desert that is contemporary Amurika, the loss of even potential institutions is tragic. Prescott is hardly ready for … anything progressive … it seems.
At any rate, a job announcement crossed my desk at some point in January. And, having worked as an international artist and educator for the last 30 years, running the numbers on the looming pensioners life was looking extremely grim. Part of my life-philosophy has been a myopic refusal to trade or give life-time to someone else in exchange for cash — except on my own terms and in ways that I believe most contribute to the creative process. At any rate, looking over the announcement, I realized I hit every qualification point and more. What the hell, why not complete one of those life-circles that began forty years ago (faugh! so many?) when I first pulled into Golden, Colorado following the long haul on Interstate-70 from Washington, D.C, as a freshman geophysical engineering student at the Colorado School of Mines.
The Colorado Geological Survey job application process stretched out for several months, and I more-or-less knew that I would *have* to be a finalist. Indeed they flew me up in April for an on-site interview. And then in late June I got a call from the State Geologist saying that their number one pick (! what media miracle-worker was that?) refused on pay grounds, and was I still interested. I did say yes after consulting with friends on how this process goes. I’d never really gone through a ‘regular’ job application process … ever. I’d always gotten jobs via my personal network.
The ‘yes’ precipitated an extremely stressful twelve weeks of packing up life in Prescott at the same time as finishing the hundreds of tasks on the house in order to ready it for selling or renting. I could not have done either tasks without the crucial help of friend Todd, the management work by brother-in-law David, and dinners by sister Janet. July was spent with 16-hour days busting insulation sheets, doors, windows, and siding, along with painting, landscaping, and the complexities of re-packing life for an unknown destination/duration. The truck also had to be tuned up in a variety of ways before it was ready for a long road-trip towing a trailer.
At the end of August, with an invite from me, Alex flew down from Boulder to join me on the drive back to the Front Range. Overnight camping at Wolf Creek, and a stop at Bill and Ava’s place (for a birthday dinner at Puukaow Thai, of course, to see Gaan and Steve), and finally arriving in Boulder at Jeff and Leslee’s place. They were on sabbatical (from CU-Boulder) in Europe for the fall and needed someone to house-sit for them until Thanksgiving. This made for a soft landing there on Mapleton Hill in Boulder — yet another circle being rounded!
I had a wide variety of visitors to my place in Prescott during the year — Jeff came in from North Carolina for Al’s interment in April; after graduating from Syracuse, god-son Simon & crew came at the beginning and end of their epic Western trip; Loki dropped in before bailing on the Bay Area & returning to Ice Land; Chris and Scharmin; Gary and Nicole; Collin; and after I had left for Colorado, Magga, Hildur, and Selma; and Casey. Otherwise, I hung out with Todd and Amy, Sarah and Kevin (fave yoga teachers & frisbee golf aficionados), and Janet and David (when they weren’t in Florida).
One sad moment came when, after I left for Colorado, my shadow, Bella, (aka ‘the Boopster’, ‘Boops’) the last of sister Janet’s Aussies that I took care of a lot over the last years had to be put down. She was a sweetie to hang out with.
At any rate, now four months into the job. It’s been an adjustment unlike any I’ve taken on. The relative rigidity of the daily schedule, combined with an almost complete lack of vacation time brings periods of anguish — tempered by the fact that everyone around me has been working 8-5 / 40hrs./wk. / 50 wks/yr. for the last 30 years while I was floating, a nomad, across 20+ countries engaged in a self-driven creative praxis. I’ve got some years ahead of me in this position unless something really unforeseen comes to be. I’m not complaining, but if any alternative opportunity presents itself before now and attaining 65 y.o., I’m game. The demise of my art praxis is jarring.
And, about the j-o-b: putting together an RFP for a contractor to re-tool a brand new WordPress platform; massaging the entire analog and digital dataspace for the org to prep it for a new website; fixing many hundreds of pages of content on the existing blog and bookstore; running our social media accounts; setting up Google analytics on everything; setting up an org-wide bibliographic database (via Zotero) to collect published information in one place with easy citation-generation possibilities; documenting field work; doing public outreach at conferences; learning about GIS data practices; uh, cataloging all digital media on 15 Tb of in-house hard-drives; figuring out work-flows for a variety of digital media outputs; liaison to CERSE and CSM media people; setting up a new blog platform and generating content … and so on. Enough work for six full-time people, I keep reminding my boss.
And having little energy to do much else outside of work. Though it’s been nice re-connecting with old friends in Golden and Boulder and elsewhere in Colorado. And meeting some fine new folks along the way.