Collage 93

Recently I was invited to participate in an art show in my town at our local cable TV studio. I delivered a painting tonight and met the manager. He asked if I was interested in becoming a member, and said that any resident of our town can have total access to the studio for free. They teach people to use lights, camera, and editing. They also have a huge auditorium where you can show your film. I thought -- huh -- maybe we should add a video element to this project! Otto is way ahead of the rest of us on this one. It would be cool to film us at work. The film can then become part of the archive, a part of our project. Now, all we need is someone interested in doing that part of the project!

In this piece, I used some text from a Hebrew source. I think it's from a Passover service book. We have talked amongst ourselves -- what is OK to use, what is verboten? I had a birthday recently and my good friend Julie gave me a used Hebrew service book as a gift, to use for collage. She is Jewish. She gave it with the express purpose of me tearing it up and using it for "art". Is that OK? Is that disrespectful? I love religious stuff and have used parts of the Bible freely in other work. Would I ever use the Koran? Personally I wouldn't. That seems over-the-top somehow.

It's a good question, isn't it? When are you disrespecting a text -- like War and Peace itself? -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 193-194 of original text
collage, acrylic paint
made 5/7/10