Before Going Back Home

I'm going home in a couple days for a week so i'm trying to squeeze in a post or two before I go home. I'll def. post from home but I won't be able to make any more about my caterpillars for the week. So i figured I'd measure them to show how big they are and I'll do measuring when I get back to see how much they've grown in the time I'm gone.

The Cecropia's are about an inch but have a few more weeks to grow to be like 3 in. :D

The Dubernardis just molted so I didn't want to bother them but they're about 1/2 in to 3/4 in right now.
The Lunas are pretty massive at around 2in. fatties.

And anyone interested, I started taking film photos with my holga and a magnifying glass so when i get those developed, I'll def post em. Here's my setup:

Shea Hembrey

I just finished watching a TED video about a very interesting Shea Hembrey and I highly suggest watching it whether or not you are interested in conceptual art. I won't get into the details of the video itself but I think it's enjoyable while his intentions are questionable.

http://www.ted.com/talks/shea_hembrey_how_i_became_100_artists.html

So let me get into my own opinions of his work (For this you'll proabably want to watch the video). So far I have mixed feelings about his work. While his concept seems pretty clever at first, I can't help but feel like all of his "character" artists are stereotypes of art practices. He projects his own notion of good art from each category. So while he claims to intend to show the mainstream conceptual art from all over, he's still only one person and only showing his own view of everything. It's interesting and appropriate for a time where sub-genres of art have branched out so much... but it also seems like a one man Core class done successfully (an SAIC freshman class). It's pretty cool that one person's conceptual interests and technical skill can be so diverse like that I've gotta say. I think what's really important though, is to keep in mind it's all him. His entire 100 artist biennial is a single project and each of his artists as well as the art are a single piece. While i find some of the art pieces to be witty I have to remind myself that it isn't confined to the physical object.

I can appreciate what he's done but I stil have mixed feelings about it. He's trying to show the diversity of artists but I think it's a little more complex than just being able to make their art. Also his explanation of what he thinks makes art successful is too simple. For example, he says that the pieces need to be explained in 5 min to his grandmother. I feel some art requires a history and/or context that may be horribly complex. But this is just what i think, and I would love to hear any comments or criticisms. Speaking of comments, the comments on the video are awesome!

Experience; And; Collective

Sometimes I watch videos on the internet and find the comments that follow more interesting. It's amazing the individual experiences derived from the video in the form of responses. Some even spawn long discussions that stray so far from the original topic of the video that I forget what video I had just been watching. I'm interested in this experience. The experience in the form of reaction. And the experience in the form of discussion. The individual and the individual that begins to form, and becomes a part of the collective.

Monstro the Cat

Today my Lunas have reached their 4th instar i think? the big differences are their heads and butts have gotten larger and darkened as seen below:

Also a cute cecropia on a leaf this is day 15 for this little cecropia:
And I wanted to get a comparison on my 2 largest caterpillars. They are only a day apart and my luna is gargantuan! I named him monstro. The cecropia only hatched the day after my lunas but cecropias are supposed to be much larger in general. so either i have massive lunas, midget cecropias or my cecropias are going to explode before they pupate.
Also a luna cast skin:
And here is my plant setup. I collect plants and keep em fresh for up to a week and a half in water-filled orange cream soda bottles on my window sill.
Today at work at the field museum I sorted Scarabidae beetles into their localities and then by subfamily:
Gymnetis (genus) a.k.a. Harlequin Flower Beetle:
melolonthinae (subfamily) a.k.a. may beetles or june bugs:

Camille Seaman

I was surfing the web and found this artist I wanted to share. She did a photo project of icebergs and also has a talk on TED that i haven't had a chance to watch just yet. I love the concepts that icebergs represent and i'm pretty drawn to the formal aesthetics of herphotographs. Thought they were pretty awesome so here's a link to her website:

http://www.camilleseaman.com/Artist.asp?ArtistID=3258&Akey=WX679BJN

Also my Dubernardi's just molted to their 2nd instar. Unfortunately 1 didn't make it so only 4 left... hope the rest do though.

Dusty Like A Turtle's Armpit

Wanted to try something with photoshop. It isn't a filter but i did trace it with a tablet... i just wanted to see what a photo might look like with some drawn line quality but it still looks like a filter. Potential future art fodder but i like hand drawn line quality better for now.

And her are some new photos here :)

Luna's a couple days ago:

Dubernardi a couple days ago
Cecropia just molted
Cecropia today

Yesterday at fossil prep i started a new fossil, finished, then broke it to reglue. I guess it was broken in the field and an attempt to glue it accurately was made so i fixed it :p.

PS: if you want to use my images for any reason i probably won't mind but please just lemme know that you want to and what it's being used for Thanks!

Folks Back Home

I don't want my friends back home to feel like I'm forgetting them because I'm here in Chicago so i did a little sketching of them... my portrait drawing needs some serious work as one looks a lot like a mix between shaggy from scooby doo and jesus... but i think it's getting better. also these were done in like 5 min.

A couple projects

Just a quick post. In about half a month or so i'll be starting a 30 day photo book project and i almost completely forgot that i started that haha. My Frugal Fowl friend also sent me a link about a sketch book project due by the end of the year. For any artists looking at my blog or anyone interested, here are links. The photo book project is free but the sketch book thing costs like $25 but it's good experience.

http://www.sofobomo.org/HomePage

http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject

silkworms and pine needles

3rd day for silkworms. kinda gross lookin but they definately got bigger

day 10 for cecropia

Actias dubernardi (chinese lunas) hatch today!

It's really a Jun 10 Post

Short post. Prometheas not doin so good... Silkworms hatched though. Spent about an hour just watching them eat.

So here's the caterpillar count as of this morning:

40 Lunas

6 or 7 Promethea

19 Cecropia

A hundred-some Bombyx Mori

Since this is such a short post, here's another A Lesson is Learned comic:

Tiny Little Crunches

So... taking care of my bugs takes like 2 hours now... but mostly because i'm taking a shit ton of pictures at the same time. And only about 5% actually make it on to my blog. With that said, here are a ton more pictures!

Another day at work and I finished my first fossil!

Today I had my first casualties... and it pretty much ruined my day...

My Lunas are in their 3rd instar now and you can actually see the husk still on the leaf. It's the weird thing on the stem inside the leaf.

My lunas:

Here were a few all tucked into leaves :). I thought it was pretty adorable.

I saw these prometheas on this leaf and thought it was pretty awesome to see a 1st instar with a 2nd and 3rd instar altogether. Instars just refer to the stage of the caterpillar. They molt into the next instars and usually have 5 or 6.

chinese luna moth eggs! just 6 but can't wait till they hatch! The caterpillars are crazy looking and the moths are gorgeous!
And more eaten leaves photos:

birch
maple

A friend was asking about how I keep my caterpillars so here's an example of one of the 6 tupperwares i have on a shelf by my window each filled with a dozen or so buggies. I noticed today that when i listen really closely with my ear close to the top of the tupperware, i can hear the caterpillars crunch on the leaves :). It was neat.

Last thing: I love the webcomic A Lesson is Learned But the Damage is Irreversible by Dale Beran (writer) and David Hellman (artist) and here's one of em. You need to find it, read it, and love it! Or just wait for me to post more of them to my blog.

Yesterday's Poop

Forgot to post yesterday but here's how much the cecropias can poop in a day!

Also more cecropias hatched
and this guy was having trouble getting out of his egg but I helped him out:
And then i took some images of my lunas yesterday. They're gettin pretty big!

Here are some images from today:

Prometheas look like yellow zebras huddling :D
And the lunas are fat and starting to develop their front 3 pairs of hand like legs

I was looking at the damage they do and i really like the forms of the leaves left behind. So here's the first look at an upcoming project that comes from my raising caterpillars :)