Marcos Chin

THE SACRED IN THE MUNDANE

This is an appendix to the post that I wrote about 4 hours ago when the video beneath this paragraph was viewable from my studio. But now that I'm home, it's not playing. I don't get it, it's barely even 3 megs. The only thing that I can gather is that my connection speed is not so great. This is still new to me, working with video, but I'm having a slammin' time learning. Anyway, here's collage of some screen captures; it doesn't have the same impact, but hopefully it goes well with the post.

Here's a video that I took this morning on the way to my studio. It's a walk that I do quite frequently but oftentimes, I don't pay very much attention to what's around me.
It's interesting how newness can wane so quickly.
Nate Williams' lecture was last night at "The Society of Illustrators." It was a full house, standing room only, but worth the trek to the Upper East Side. He talked about his work, transitioning from an art director, in interactive design, to becoming a freelance illustrator, and his move from the west coast of the United States to Costa Rica and eventually settling in Argentina. One particular part of his talk that stayed with me (aside from the importance of integrating an RSS feed into one's website, and the spanish word cochina) was discovering newness within the mundane.
I'm the kind of person who doesn't necessarily attend lectures to gain cool tricks on how to improve upon my dexterity, or techniques with whatever artistic media. I feel like I can do that simply by researching it on my own, or enrolling in a workshop or class to teach me those skills. What I hope to gain instead is inspiration.
I'm not sure why, but I've always been the type of person who is encouraged and uplifted by others, particularly those of the underdog. Maybe it's because I come from a very modest upbringing, where my family never once lived beyond our means; my parents had to essentially compromise their own lives for the sake my brother, sister and mine (read Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, her fiction is based on real experiences, I'm sure...)
Although Nate included a lists of things to help us understand in a linear fashion, how he went about processing ideas for commissioned projects, I was more interested in those moments of when he spoke about the reasons which precipitated his move from the United States (to Argentina); those moments in between work, that he uses to apprise his artistic practice.
The sacred in the mundane.
The broken signs in my neigbourhood, the steam rising from the sidewalk grates, the dirty white teddy bear laying face down in the snow. Nate's right, if I just slow down a bit and open my eyes, I will see an entirely new world in front of me.