Inspiration from the grid

While biking to the "Poetry Fest" at the Harold Washington Library I saw a small moving shadow in the pavement below me. I looked back in time to see the handle of plastic "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU" bag snag a tree branch.

The poetry fest was kinda boring, so I went to the Art Institute and spent a lot of time in the Judith Neisser Collection exhibition.

Julia Fish - Study for Living Rooms (correction tape on graph paper) 2001

This show (especially the middle gallery; with Julia Fish, Sol LeWitt, Fred Sandback, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Carl Andre, Eva Hesse, and others) has been a good place for generating work for me. For me, the rigid structure (often a grid) in these works are productive models of organizing my own ideas. Within these often rigid organizations I feel that I am able to be more creative - to really push myself, and to have something to push against.

Felix Gonzalez-Torres - Untitled (t-Cell Count) (graphite, colored pencil, and gouache on paper) 1990

Today, in this space, I was struck with many poetic forms; which later led me consider whether language itself is a rigid structure. My initial thought was no, it is ever-changing, but I think this is a good question to keep around. Visiting Fischli and Wiess's 15-channel slide installation, Questions (1981/2002–03), also helped me along this path.

Peter Fischli and David Weiss - Questions (15-channel slide installation) 1981/2002–03