Alrighty! We are now officially one week deep into our two month residency at The Wassaic Project, and let me say it has been one hell of a week. I arrived Saturday afternoon, several days after Dustin and the others, after an intense week long shoot in the East Bay, and wrapping up more loose ends than I care to count. We are living in what’s called The Schoolhouse, a suuuper adorable schoolhouse (duh) turned lofted duplex, with all the modern amenities and even a pink trim (for reals…check the pic.) The house is divided into two sides, the ‘artist’ side and the ‘farmer’ side, although the farmers don’t live there anymore, just a few Wassaic regs. The ‘artist’ side has 4 bedrooms, two bathrooms and a huge basement, shared with the farmer side. We live with three other artists: Pam, Hao and Shane. They are all wonderful people and very talented artists. The five of us have already embarked on the first of most likely many expeditions…all focused around one magical little detail: the automobile (Shane has one!)

 

Although I had really only been in town for just over a day, we all decided to hop in the car and go to the City (that means NEW YORK out here, not SAN FRANCISCO.) Our friend Peter’s band was playing a gig that was (coincidentally) a benefit for The Wassaic Project’s Summer Festival. Dustin and i spent the day running around the city (B&H, Billys Cupcakes, AllSaints Warehouse sale…typical stuff.) We stopped in and had dinner with Chris, a good friend of ours who Dustin met when he lived our here. The show was great and i hope that some beneficial super dough was made for the summer festival.  The best part of the night was spending a couple hours with my best friend in the whole entire solar system, Anna, and her boyfriend Eli.

The next morning we got bagels with Peter and two other Boveda band members, David (Peter’s roomate) and Mike. We had such good conversations with these guys about art and culture and community, about life in the city and life out of the city. It was good to feel stimulated by such a talented and diverse peer group, speaking, hearing, thinking and responding. I could feel my brain feelers waking up and stretching out. I’ve been practicing stimulating thought on my own, pushing my internal conversations deeper, asking more questions and self educating. Its exhilarating.

Back in Wassaic, we spent the next couple days getting our studios set up. Dustin has secured a nice wooded studio space on the second floor of the barn, with several locking doors. It’s one of very few studios with floor to ceiling walls and a door. He is in the process of insulating the room for acoustics. In the spirit of the barn, he is using hay (well, alfalfa really) for bass traps and sound dampening. It looks really neat. My studio is directly underneath Dustin’s. It is more of the standard Wassaic studio space, that was used and built for a cattle pen, so its got this cute little white gate at the entrance and is mostly open air. The best part is that there is a tiny pen within the pen (meta pen) which i am now using as my weaving studio, complete with chair and vintage fisher price children’s loom. I found some super soft yarn at DrugWorld (duh) that is meant for baby blankets, but i am going to make a wall hanging (double duh). I also got some boring off white colored yarn that i think i will experiment with dyeing. *SIDENOTE*: I just discovered a fiber farm just West of Wassaic called Kashini Fiber Farm, where they offer wilderness hikes where you forage and learn about what natural materials can be used for dyes. Shut up, i’m so there!

We are settling into our new lifestyle incredibly well. Each day feels like summer vacation as a kid, where you would seamlessly flow from one activity to the next, and got as much work done as play. It was pretty chilly and rainy for the last week, but this weekend has cleared up to a comfortable 77*. The grass and the trees smell so fantastic in that thick warm night air. I just cant get enough. To top it all off, Dustin has procured two farm bikes for us (Triumphs!) which are single speed rust machines, but do the job of getting us from point a to point b…in style. My morning commute to the studio is pretty much like that  one scene in Gummo…literally.

 

Well, i think that’s pretty much been the week. We have set a deadline for ourselves (Monday) to wrap up our prep time and jump into full swing stage show mode, or as i like to call it OPERATION NOLAN GRAY LIVE FEATURING THE MUSE (more to come on that later!)

Sianara beautiful people! With Love from the Little Hamlet that Could,

-Carmen (& Dustin, who is napping…duh)

It’s been some time now since we have posted on Agents of Autonomy. The last couple years have been full of joy, adventure and successes, but nothing of such lifelong personal impact has happened since our trip to Europe three years ago (when we rode our bikes across the continent.) Well, the time has come for a big change. We have been accepted to the Wassaic Project’s 2012 Summer Residency Program. Woohoo! We have been invited to live and work in Wassaic for the months of May & June, among the green grass, big trees, creeks, rivers, lakes and all the artistic (and non-artistic) community you could ask for! We also plan to spend the entire month of July in Berlin and Barcelona again (don’t worry, no bikes this time.) Our goal in Wassaic is to build a fantastic live show (among other things), with Dustin producing and playing music, and me building the visual show to accompany him.

This residency resonates deeply with our goals as agents of autonomy: def- one who gives oneself his/her own law. Autonomy refers to the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision. In moral and political philosophy, autonomy is often used as the basis for determining moral responsibility for one’s actions.  Politically, it is also used to refer to the self-governing of a people.

We believe in a continually pattern-interrupted life; one that is governed by an acute sense of self and surrounding, one that is deeply concerned with the future of our communities, and one that is rooted in love and creativity. Taking two months off to go live in a rural hamlet (def: unincorporated settlement) is hardly acceptable by the capitalist American standards. Lucky for us, we operate within our own standards of practice for what our lives should and should not look like. We don’t see it as ‘taking three months off’, as much as continuing the personal and creative work we care dearly about. We have no employers to answer to but ourselves, and we have designed our lives to be that way. We have designed our lives for flexibility and continual growth, to cycle in and out of interests, careers and relationships. This is where life is reborn and excitement is rekindled, where we regain our sights and continue to grow as an individual.

The Wassaic Project offers an incredible community to work with in. You can read all about the Mill (pictured above), the barn and all the happenings on their website www.wassaicproject.org. This blog will serve as our process blog, talking about what we are working on, exploring and the progress we make, both personally and creatively. Please bookmark or subscribe to be updated on what we are doing.

Lastly, we would like to thank all our friends and family for the amazing support. We regret not being able to have a proper farewell party, but we hope to skype or g-chat with each and every one of you.

Love and Love and Love,

Carmen & Dustin