photographic thursday :: renee mcgurk

When deciding to push forward with this journal and reach out to interview extraordinary people, the choice was for a soldier of our time. There are many wars happening right now and they are not with guns, power, or economic gain. They begin at the core of humanity. Renee McGurk decided to share her thoughts with my queries and send over images from her repertoire.

How did you happen to decide on photography as your medium?

My mother never had a camera and I felt years of my life had gone by undocumented, so in college I got myself a Polaroid to help me remember. I had wanted to take a photography course at the time but my schedule was filled up with straight academics, especially science.

After graduation and while working as a lab tech at Northwestern University, I finally signed up for photography and got myself a proper camera. The thrill of seeing how my pictures turned out in the darkroom was addictive. I took two courses at Northwestern and two at The Evanston Art Center and teamed up with friends, Joseph Witkowski, Frank Tamas and Jennifer Brown to form a group called Inpatient Artworks. This collaboration resulted in three gallery shows and a dozen short films. As I became a film buff, my focus switched to storytelling and I took up digital videography in earnest. Making movies was time consuming, expensive and required a great deal of teamwork. After a couple years including participation with local filmmakers Group 312 and a TV episode on Channel 19 CAN TV, I abandoned ship. I took a stab at creative writing, first with a screenplay, later with short stories as part of a writer’s group and even tried my hand at some song writing. Several years went by with virtually no creative output until I was given a digital camera as a gift this past January…







Your images embody moments of sophisticated intensity.
How do you choose the objects, people, moments that you photograph?

When I first started taking pictures, I had two main interests: people and abstracts.  I wanted to recreate the kind of beauty I saw in old black and white films, eternal female beauty to be more specific.  My sister Annie was my favorite model, not only because she radiated glamour but also because she was close and willing.  I was a big fan of sci-fi films and chemistry -this resulted in a series of abstracts called Microcosmos- tricks of light, oil and vinegar that became imagined spaces and places resembling outer space or the inner space of human bodies. In an effort to force my photos into groups of series, I somehow got this notion of comparing/contrasting black and white with color images. All of my original series played with this concept- an unfortunate compromise.

These days I am much less organized or conceptual. I wander around the streets and lakefront with the camera functioning as my eyes.  I'm drawn to bright colors, geometric shapes, water droplets, storm clouds and other details I would generally miss if I didn’t have my camera.  I’ve started a slowly growing series of lost or discarded objects.





How do you describe your photographic world?

I tend to think photographs reflect unique perspectives similar to the way dreams reflect personal experiences and levels of consciousness; there’s a correlation there but I lack the ability to dissect it further.



Can you give an insight into your next project?

To be honest I have no idea what my next project will be. I consider myself a student of digital photography and my only goal at the moment is to master the technique.





Where can we find you?

You can see my old photographic series and a description of my films at iatrogenicart.com (archives for Inpatient Artworks); some of my films are posted at group312films.com and my newest photos are on flickr (flickr.com/photos/51018933@N08/).

It has been a genuine fortune to work with this woman, artistically and personally. She emanates equanimity and tears through life with vision. A periscope of our quagmire.

soundscape saturday :: jeekoos

Jeekoos
DubFront Records
"(the English spelling of the Polish word Dzikus,
loosely translated as “a feral woodsman”)
crept into the Chicago music scene playing bass in punk bands
and producing four track hiphop and breakbeat type madness.
Always a seeker of fresh musical experiences, Jeekoos
found himself at a party near the end of the century. It was there
that he encountered jungle music. Soon after, he discovered
Part Time Sucker Radio – a consistent source of jungle, breakbeats and DnB.
Impressed by the show’s selections of styles and sounds,
Jeekoos became a regular listener, then a contributor,
then a freakin’ resident dj. When he ran up on Dubstep,
with its intensity, gnarly basslines and attention to detail,
he naturally incorporated it into his sets and production style.
He crafts tunes and mixes that are nothing short of block rocking.
Jeekoos also props up Chicago’s lowdown sounds with sick event flyers
and web design and is the man behind the MidwestDubstep.com forum.
Respect to tha Wubmaster!"

Vote for Jeekoos in the semi-finals to play Lollapalooza!

photographic thursday :: dan merlo photography

Dan Merlo Photography
Specializing in capturing raw emotive energy and manifesting a
conceptual idea, his style is both explosive yet refined.

fashion friday :: kreatia

Kreatia
Originally from Poland, Agnieszka Kulon works professionally
as a fashion designer and photographer under label KREATIA.
As a fashion designer Agnieszka offers, to her clients, alternatives 
to main stream of industry. Her collection, featured in nation wide 
magazine Fiber Art Magazine, is built from one of the kind pieces.
In her photography she features quite often the same person,
but her strong background in make-up artistry and fashion design
allows her to alter images. She uses both digital and traditional 
photography, shooting film and processing her prints in wet lab.
Agnieszka specializes in portraits, fashion and humouristic 
sequences.

fashion friday :: mended mosaic

Mended Mosaic
founded in 2008 by Chicago natives KC and Louie Mendicino.
For years, KC sat behind the hum of a sewing machine, with the
assistance of her greatest mentor - her mother.  
Beginning creations were small vests for festivals, corsets, then 
bellydancing costuming, pants, and more. When KC and Louie 
met, he put his handiwork to the needle as well. After an
overwhelming response to their handmade wares, they launched 
their creativity into the bigger picture.

soundscape saturday :: juke music

“Is there a difference between Chicago Booty House, Ghetto Tech, 
and Juke Music? The answer is Yes, there is a HUGE difference."
read full article authored by DJV

Ghetto/Booty House, Ghettotech; Juke is Original House Music.
Juke is a type of Chicago House which started being recognized in its 
own right from around 1992 onwards.  It features minimal 808 and 
909 drum machine driven tracks.  Few are using this genre to its full 
potential artistically.  The template of classic Chicago House music
(primarily, Percolator by Cajmere), has usually been made on very 
minimal equipment with little or no effects.  It usually features a 4 to 
the floor kick drum (full sounding, but not too long or distorted) along 
with Roland 808 and 909 synthesized tom tom sounds, minimal use of 
analogue synths, and short, slightly dirty sounding (both sonically and 
lyrically) vocal samples, often repeated in various ways.  Also 
common are 808 and 909 clap sounds, and full verses and choruses.

"Atop lushly warped RandB synths, stuttering, mutated 2-step drum 
patterns and deep subbass that drops in and out without warning,
a pitched down vocal, and measuredly repeats.  The already 
disorienting formula becomes even wilder midway through when the 
vocal is suddenly pitched up and the initial woozy pattern is fed 
amphetamines: words repeat until it starts to sound like a slum ocean.  
Which is not a bad metaphor for the footwork oeuvre, music obsessed 
with changing dynamics, and all the manic tendencies you would expect 
from the children of trap music and ghetto house."
quote from Stephen Kerr on A Love Letter to Chicago Juke

inpatient artworks

Essays, Films, and Services from a crew that moves the time
and documents our thoughts.

Inpatient Artworks Online

Archive Site (2004-2007)