has moved!!!

please continue reading the life and times of canh solo and frequent my new location on my official portfolio website!

portfolio: http://www.canhsolo.com/

new blog: http://www.canhsolo.com/blog

some more

the one i did today is the best so far, but i dont have a pic of it :\

life drawing

life drawing

life drawing

life drawing

life drawing

life drawing

life drawing

life drawing (hella wrong forshortening)

1.5 weeks of class left!!

What’s yelp? “Yelp is the fun and easy way to find, review, and talk about what’s great – and not so great –in your area.” Go ahead, log on to yelp and search Chinatown in Seattle, WA. Chances are the first couple pages are all restaurant reviews and to make matters worse, Dim Sum is in its own section outside of food. For many people, the International District seems to generate an exclusivist ego for those searching for “secret Asian goodies.” And Yelp, well it’s the ultimate outlet for those Lewis and Clarks who brag to friends and families about their newly found treasure, to allow them to brag to an entire community. Although Yelp uses the term “review”, I find it increasingly difficult to understand it if each reviewer is awarded badges of honor such as “elite member” displayed on their profile page and avatar. What exactly dubs thy an “elite member” of a community review website? I had previous notions that those who are “elite” demonstrate a particular knowledge or skill of a particular craft. And to make matters worst, users have developed slang terminology for popular locations such as Uwajimaya, now sadly known as “The Waj.” No offense Yelp, I usually enjoy reading what people have to say, but I am never fully convinced of what any one person has to say on Yelp.

here are some statements ive copied and pasted from yelp:
“It’s “The Waj”.

It’s Ranch 99’s trendy, but sweet sibling. The sister you strive to become. “

sounds like this person has some unsolved family issues

“There are so many unusual items at the Waj as it is affectionately called by locals.  I love that you can get more than just asian food here.”

as i read it, unusual items = asian food

“Can’t read the asian writing, or, don’t know how to cook a specific product that looks interesting to you? Ask someone who works there. Most of the time I have had no problem at all asking how to use a specific  sauce, or how find things that I needed for recipes.”

asian writing? wtf?

“What kind of dork reviews a grocery store? This kind, apparently.

When I was a kid I hated Asian food. I refused to eat it under any circumstances. Eventually I became old enough to drink and one very intoxicated evening I decided to cave in and try yakisoba. Ever since then Japanese food and I have been best pals.“

you’re not alone, there are thousands of dorks reviewing on that website, if you didnt notice.

“This is the best thing in the International District.  Amtrak is located nearby and there are plenty of buses running in and out of this neighborhood“

you would want to get out of the neighborhood immediately after your trip to “the best thing in the I.D.”

“Not much to do in Chinatown/International District; Uwajimaya is probably the biggest highlight.“

i have to respect your decision, i dont agree with it at all though

im not dissing yelp on this, just the people who post on yelp (the louis and clarks, the exclusivists egos, mostly white people)

ps,

yelp offers to remove bad ratings for a fee (for businesses)

talk about extortion:

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/news/yelp_and_the_business_of_extortion_2_0/Content?oid=927491

another great post about why yelp sucks:

http://feedmedrinkme.blogspot.com/2009/02/problem-with-yelp.html

with photography

for the past few months, i havent been able to capture anything significant or worthwhile

its always been like this for me, there will be a few weeks or months of pure energy, passion, and dedication

and then it dries up

like a rasin in the sun

i dont have any desire to take photos

and i lose it..or most of it anyways

ive always been a firm follower of technique and high-techniques

this goes for everything, im obsessive with being structurally adaquet and foundationally secure

i guess there are certain fears that restrain me from not worrying about it

but ive never minded that

until i felt like i had not much more to go

NOW! this is not a sign of ignorance or extreme confidence (cockiness)

it is a sign of worry..worry of plateuing

or even worse, a declination of skill

that fucking bothers me (some times to depression..i know, hella sad.)

but it happens

i forget how to draw or take photographs

not necessarily forget, but will undermine what ive learned

when i believe that my subconscious will be able to deal with the rest if my hands are unconsciously moving

and part of that is true for most of art making when youre “in the mode”

and this is where the best products usually comes from

a spontaneity in the course of your work

but there is also a level of awareness you must have in order to continue your pursuit

as artists, you must be aware..photographers especially

and an open receptivity to your surroundings that essentially “free” us from our binding presets

not aiming for a certain response or ambiguity

neither blocking or absorbing our environment, but simply responding to it

this is my personal cure to artists-block

(or photographers-block..i dont consider myself an artist yet..read the title, ARTIST IN TRANSITION ^_^)

i take my camera outside, without any preset, pre-imagined, pre-anything photograph in mind

simply outside interacting and responding to the environment through the viewfinder

and ive been getting some great photographs doing this

regretfully, when i do have a preset image, i rarely am able to capture it

unless all conditions are in my  favor (light, texture, figure, emotion, camera model*, lens, etc)

that wont be happening anytime soon

here are some images from today that i took with an open and clear mind

(i realize there is no solidified way in actually achieving an open mind or any of this, we are all individuals who prefer different methods)

but this works best for me

there is no real conceptual connection between these images (yet? (;)

contextually, they are all black and white and geographically identical in locale

final project 1

final project 2

final project 3

final project 4

final project 5

final project 6

final project 7

***these photographs will be used in my foundations class freshman final project at cornish along with others, finished product will be done in 4 weeks along with artist statement***

**also, i never undermine actual technique, so as much as i like to say i have to be aware and receptive to spontaneity…i am also hoping for constant control of my technical skills**

spring is here! or is it? seattle always does this..but the forecast shows that it will be sunny all week

SEATTLE VS FORECAST

will the returning champ be able to outwit the forecast yet again?

im not sure

i dont feel like writing much either..

here are pics from today! (4/5/09)

(emphasis on spring time and cherry blossoms..last year, they bloomed too early and died from the funky winter)

cherry blossoms

danny woo community garden

danny woo community garden

danny woo community garden

danny woo community garden

chinatown bulletin board

chinatown recycles

chinatown

chinatown

officially titled "sakura hadouken"

but  i got around something that i shouldve been doing years ago yesterday

I always went to bookstores to read while i was in the book store
because im cheap and not at all interested in reading at home

but due to extreme boredom
i bought three books yesterday

1) tao of photography
2) how to be a gentleman
3) art and artifice: japanese photographs of the meiji era

they arent considered the hardest or most intellectual read

but its a start right?

it feels like its going to develop into a good habit this summer

im even thinking about buying a book case

i also got the chance to meet mark dacascos and photograph him for an interview with the international examiner (or asian weekly?)

the current host and chairman of Iron Chef America and one of the best martial artist actors along with Jet Li (go ahead, type his name into youtube)

mark played in “Double Dragon”, “Legend of Bruce Lee”, “Only the Strong”,  “Cradle to the Grave”, and hella more

having the opportunity to meet and photograph him is still settling in

mark dacascos

mark dacascos

mark dacascos

mark dacascos

mark dacascos

mark dacascos

mark dacascos

im getting so lazy now, with 5 weeks left of class…im not sure how often ill be able to convince myself to update this thing!

Nismo 350z

Gregg

Maynard Alley

TSB WSP Service Project

TSB WSP Service Project

TSB WSP Service Project

Uwajimaya

Mikes Noodle House (TRY OR DIE)

chinatown

Chinatown

Justin

bw invert

golden star

rizal

four seas

viktoria morgun and canh solo collaboration

hw sketch of sculpture depicting mass

i got lazy on the legs, as i did on the sculpture.. ^_^ sorry viktoria

life drawing homework (5 minute sketch)

life drawing (pre spring break)

life drawing (pre spring break)

life drawing pre spring break

life drawing pre spring break

life drawing (one of the firsts)

i feel like ive done way more, but i cant find them at the moment…

i have ideas that i need to get out there and develop

this blog is just a holding cell for those ideas, whether theyre half-baked or not baked at all

i find them worthwhile in the pursuit of further developing

but due to limitations of time and will

ill have to come back and re-read all of these later

and hopefully ill be able to send you that life-story i was suppose to over winter break

sincerely,

your beloved student

canh

ps,

i purposely wrote this to fool the readers into thinking you were my female writing teacher (hes a dude)

I often fantasize about becoming a semi-absolute independent individual that could operate peacefully and sufficiently outside of society. I like to think that way anyways, but it seems too naïve of a pursuit for me at this age. Something like that doesn’t happen as planned, nobody usually wants to be out-casted; it seems more like a Plan C than anything else. I was easily influenced by movies (pre 1995 movies) at a young age, imitating characters, their development, and mimicking the ideal cool-guy persona; and sometimes, forcefully applying it directly to my life. I had switched up my attitude all too often growing up; I had always planned for it to happen, my transformation into the cool-guy (Danny Zuko, mostly.)

It never happened, my vision of life beyond middle school was too idealistic for a person like me to achieve, especially when most of those cool-guys were white. Someone should’ve told me this earlier in life; I wouldn’t have wasted so much time chasing my American dream. Being cool held too many unforeseen consequences for my chink-eyes to perceive. If you were cool enough, you simply got away with everything and it just kept adding, until you became some sort of icon. I was obsessed with this. Looking back now, I feel like I was cheated out of it, hustled.

Due to my own insecurities and naiveté, I acted as a selfish individual who had thought he was chasing something more worthwhile. The concept of the “American dream” is like such for an ethnic individual, it seems to be the absolute practice of motivation, discipline, and autonomy all working together seamlessly to produce the end result of success. There wasn’t enough dependency in my household to teach me the values of collectivism; otherwise it might’ve turned out more differently. If I had known that I was doomed to kiss the “white” man’s ass for most of my life to even taste a glimpse of success, I would’ve started at a much younger age.

I like to think I’ve grown up quite a bit from then, matured just a little more over the years, and have become a more dependable figure within my in-group but the kind of character I enjoy perceiving myself as is still very self-contained. It would be an understatement to note that I am either a product of the misleading slogan of the American dream or just an attempt at pursuing so due to my adolescence.

maybe its a little too late to still be excited, but i thought i should include this as an update to you all

as a cornish student, i have the opportunity to enter a merit based scholarship show called “roll call.”

it is a chance to showcase and display your own work inside and outside of cornish to your peers and faculty

it is divided into each class within the art depart (seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen)

it is one of the few times we get to see what our peers are doing during the year

you are also judged on a merit/gpa based scale in which you are awarded scholarship money for next year’s tuition

only students with a gpa higher than 3.0 may participate

thats the jist of it? i think…

here’s an artist statement i included along with what i entered:

I am a freshman student learning the visual language as I continue to develop as an artist. Through Foundations class assignments, I am investigating the language that is being taught to me through ideas, construction, and photography. The photographic series are the exploration of space, motion, and light in which the image content embodies my own understanding and perspectives of the visual language.
By taking and organizing these photos in a set of series, I can further develop my concept within these integral components. Manifesting space through monochromatic imagery, motion through time, and light through color.
“Blacks and Whites” inspired through Foundation’s first class assignment, Notan design, distinguishes positive and negative space by limiting the use of color to a monochromatic color scheme, signifying the differences of light and dark through high contrast.
“Mapping and Site” is a site-specific project exploring line within the University Street metro tunnel where lines of architecture and people exist underground, beneath the city. A line is the connection of two concepts, the beginning and end. This is a line that is visual, literal, and conceptual, in which many singular lines of life come together daily.
“Line into Mass” is the construction of a tie through line materials such as wire and thread. The final piece is the representation of my struggles and worries of being an artist and wearing a workingman’s uniform, living and working within routine most of his life.
“Change We Should Believe In” is an unfocused image of our current president, Barack Obama. Which is partly why we should believe in him but also suggesting that we leave room to believe in ourselves for change. It depicts one of our most influential characters during our time in a moment of intense vulnerability and perhaps danger.
“Color and motion” is my most recent attempt at investigating the relationships within an image by applying unnatural colors onto a dynamic photograph, analyzing the changes through a sense of place and what the importance of color embodies, similar to the black and white conversion process.

blacks and whites (8"x10")

blacks and whites (8"x10")

blacks and whites (8"x10")

blacks and whites (8"x10")

mapping and site (8"x10")

mapping and site (8"x10")

mapping and site (8"x10")

mapping and site (8"x10")

line into mass

line into mass

line into mass

line into mass

***line into mass originally consisted of 12 photographs organized onto storyboard as a photo-essay, then chose to limit the photographs to 6 when entering into roll call, these displayed are not entirely in order and are just some random picks***

change we should believe in (24" x 36")

color and motion (8"x10")

color and motion (8"x10")

color and motion (8"x10")

color and motion (8"x10")

my goal in the end was not to showcase my best work, but to showcase these sets as a basic understanding, knowledge, and skill of the foundations within the artistic language and photography.

**all photographs are printed on Hahnemuhle photo paper (highest grade and quality of photo paper on the planet) with Epson Ultrachrome K3 ink (One of the most expensive liquids on the planet), both are archival and museum quality and will outlast 100 years easily***

if youve ever seen a photo that you had to have for yourself, i am now offering high-grade prints using these materials to ensure you recieve the best quality prints you can get

please visit: www.flickr.com/canhsolo to browse the many photos i’ve taken within the past years

www.canhsolo.com will be up shortly! (i know im so terrible at this)