October 31, 2008

Last night was the first night where I didn’t actually see my host.  I talked to Victor around nine to let him know that I was going to a friend’s Halloween thing and see if I could come over after.  He just told me he would leave the door unlocked and to come in whenever; I got a text around 12:45 saying that he was going to sleep and I should just lock the door after myself.  I had been planning on leaving right about then because I didn’t want to be too much of a burden, but ended up staying another half hour since he was going to sleep anyways.  Having to coordinate my schedule with someone else’s has definitely been the most wearying part of this project… I start dreading it in the afternoon and it doesn’t really go away until I call.  It’s a matter of finding a precarious balance between my social life, the social life of my host, and where those two are going to intersect for the night.

I left around 8:30 this morning to get some things done before work, but no one was up… making for a pretty crazy night on a total stranger’s couch.  Their living room was way intriguing though, stuff everywhere (quite a bit of it art) and three or four couches–not that I did more than just glance around from the couch I was sleeping on.  Whoever lives there seems really interesting and hopefully I will get a chance to actually meet them in the future; I can now say that I’ve stayed at the treehouse though, one of the most infamous of Westwood apartments.  I’m slightly concerned about tonight: Halloween, combined with not having talked to Victor face to face, might inhibit me getting a place for this evening.

October 30, 2008

Through Matt W. I got connected with this really generous, awesome group of people and for that I am quite thankful.  Brian housed me last night (the same Brian who got Red Mango with us two days ago) and I have to say that he was quite cryptic when I talked to him in the afternoon about coming over–he kept making references to how I knew his roommates, but refused to tell me who they were.  The day before he had made a comment about them being female and hippies, leaving me the whole evening to ponder who I might know that fit those characteristics.  When I got there I was surprised to find Heidi (an ex-art major that I used to be friends with and may have gone on a few dates with) and her friend Alisa that I had also met a few years back.  The way all these people know each other continues to amaze me.  Everyone seemed pretty excited to have me there, with Brian even pointing out how he loved how the project created numerous indirect situations as well–like his apartment getting increasingly eager as it got later in the night.

I talked to Brian for a long time about post-college plans… his happen to include moving to Europe, so we spent awhile on the political / cultural situation over there.  I don’t know much about it and Brian is a european studies major, so it was mostly him telling me about some of the differences and similarities between different countries and the US.  It was all really interesting.  At one point I mentioned being curious about the Berlin art scene and I guess Brian has a friend from Berlin who is studying here this quarter.  There is a party at the co-op Saturday night and Brian offered to introduce me to his friend if I make it over there, which sounds pretty great and has subsequently been put on my calendar.

After Heidi came out and reminded Brian how late it was, we all got ready for bed: I hadn’t had a communal teeth brushing so far this project, so that was pretty interesting–another fairly private act to share with strangers.  A lot of the apartments seem to have their own traditions (like the “check in” from the night before) and after getting ready for bed Heidi looked up my birthday in the “birthday book.”  I have to say my tarot reading was actually pretty wonderful, as it was about leaving behind material possessions in search of a higher truth that would eventually lead me to the infinite.  I don’t really put much faith in things like that, but it is a nice idea right?  Being included in these very apartment-specific events makes me feel so much more welcome and I think is a good indication of how a lot of people take this seriously and want to do more than just let me sleep on their couch.

I got to sleep on a pull-out couch in the living room and it was great!  After getting in bed, I talked to Heidi for a bit since she was still out working on a paper.  It was nice to catch up and I would definitely enjoy talking for more than a few minutes next time.  According to Brian, she thought that I just abruptly stopped talking to her towards the beginning of our first quarter here… although I remember being given an ultimatum to either hang out more or not at all, naturally choosing the latter because ultimatums are stupid.  It doesn’t really matter anymore, but I do find it quite poetic to stay at the house of the first real friend I made at UCLA as a part of my last project here.

Things are going really well, with tonight being the halfway point.  Although I do really love this project, it has been hard and I look forward to the end–although I don’t think I could have made it any shorter and still have gotten a thorough-enough experience.  I think Heidi put it nicely last night when she said that it must be exhausting to not be able to put my guard down; it definitely is.  Everyone had to get up early this morning, but Brian and Heidi told me I could sleep as late as I wanted so I slept in until ten.  A welcome eight hours of sleep… hopefully I can stay alert and actually contribute during senior studio this time.

Tonight I am staying with Victor (who was over last night talking with the fourth roommate Tracy) and Brian kept joking (?) about how I am going to be descending even farther into the hippie subculture in the next few days.  Sounds good to me.

October 29, 2008

The connections I am seeing between people and the interconnectedness of this large social circle I am apparently a part of is really crazy.  Mario called me around eight last night to see if I was coming over for dinner… I told him that I have this last meal dinner project on Tuesdays, but asked if I could come over once I was done.  He said that was fine and that if he wasn’t around his roommates would definitely be.  When I arrived no one was answering the door, so I called Mario again, who was out and then called his roommates, and then this girl let me in.  I was pretty sure I had met her a couple years ago and that she was dating an art major named Chuck, which is how I awkwardly introduced myself.  Turns out her name is Anna, we had met before, and luckily she is still dating Chuck–avoiding an even more awkward situation.  Matt (Weiden, from a few nights ago) had told me that Mario may or may not be roommates with Chuck and Matt Sobel (art majors that I have known since my first class at UCLA), but they are in fact all living together.

I spent most of the night with Chuck, Matt, and Anna.  We did some studying (which is when I wrote yesterday’s entry), some Red Mango with their friend Brian, had a couple beers, and just hung out / got to know each other better.  Again, I don’t socialize with too many art majors outside of class so it was really nice to spend some time with Matt and Chuck not in the context of the studio.  They are great hosts and apparently have been checking the blog regularly (making it even crazier that their roommate ended up hosting me and they had no idea that I was coming.)  I have to say the highlight of the evening was probably when we “checked in,” going around the table to say what our most challenging moment of the day was, what we are most thankful for, and what we learned that day.  It was a great, albeit slightly tongue-in-cheek, way to connect.

When Mario got back with his roommate Ryan and two of their friends, I talked with them for a bit and had some scotch and lasagna with Mario.  They were also really open and happy to have me there; everyone seemed genuinely interested in both this project and my dinner project, which is always a nice surprise.  Mario is graduating next quarter, so we talked about that for awhile and how neither of us really have any idea what we’re going to do–besides find some sort of way to pay the rent.  Interestingly, Mario and Chuck are starting up a company called Homstie where people can rent out unused space in their house or apartment to people who need cheap storage and the company came up quite a bit last night (I got to see the forthcoming commercial too, which is brilliant.)  I think the environmental repercussions of such a project are really interesting and will hopefully help their success in a culture that is increasingly interested in “going green.”  Rethinking the way storage is handled and promoting a both environmentally / financially responsible policy for using unused space is pretty exciting–as are any projects that allow individuals to connect instead of just forcing them to operate through a corporation.

Matt, Chuck, Anna, and I went to sleep around two or so, as Matt, Chuck, and I had studio together at eight the next morning.  At some point Mario and Ryan came in and we all ended up piling on Chuck’s bed, which I can safely say is the most physically intimate experience I have shared with anyone up to this point in the project.  I guess later last night I started laughing to myself in my sleep… what a fun reminder of how intimate sleeping with people can be, given the removal of conscious social control.

I ended up getting a ride with Matt and Chuck this morning, which worked out pretty well and I might actually start doing regularly.  They were also excited about the possibility of having me over again soon, which I would definitely love.  Only stopping by my house to grab my backpack was kind of a jolt though, as I usually have a few minutes alone in the morning to center myself before class.  It’s definitely a part of the project and I’d much rather spend the extra time with my host if they’re willing, but it still has been throwing my day off a little bit.

I have no idea where I will be tonight, but am fully confident that Mario (possibly with the help of Matt and Chuck) will have a place for me.

October 28, 2008

Sleeping at work is not fun.  I got four and a half hours of sleep on the floor of a study room, resulting in my complete lack of participation during critique for my afternoon studio.  I actually felt really bad because art-Jackie was so helpful during my critique and I said nothing constructive during hers… I’m going to make sure to talk to her about it one-on-one after I’ve had a chance to think about things a bit more.  The graveyard shift was actually pretty interesting though, despite needing two coffees to stay awake.  It was work-Jackie’s first shift and so we went through the hefty training check-list before getting to talk for a bit.  When people want to talk about themselves I usually just let them (and tend to be genuinely interested) so it would be pretty safe to say that I know way more about her than she knows about me.

Tonight I am staying at Yvette’s friend Mario’s, which also happens to be Matt S. and Chuck’s place.  I am actually writing this entry at their house, as this is the first free time I have had all day, so I’m going to wrap this up…

October 27, 2008

I don’t really have much to say about last night, despite it being my first night staying with a total stranger.  Yvette (Matt’s roommate from last year) agreed to host me, but we were both busy until late so by the time I got there she was getting ready for bed and we only talked for a minute or two.  I’m kind of bummed we didn’t get to see more of each other, as she seems like a pretty awesome person.  What struck me most by the whole situation was just that she and her roommate were totally fine giving me full access to their living room without even knowing anything about me (I guess Yvette wasn’t even sure if I was friends with Matt or not.)  I hope that I would be willing to do the same for someone in my situation, although I know I have a bad tendency to get caught up in worrying about the safety of my possessions that would likely be a hindrance.  Around three Matt called and woke me up to inform me that his phone hadn’t been working that night and to check that everything had worked out with Yvette.  It’s really interesting how some people take their responsibility for me much more seriously than others, despite me giving everyone the same instructions.

Tonight I have to work a graveyard shift (hopefully my only one for the duration of the project) and so I won’t be staying with Yvette’s choice until tomorrow night–although she has already planned it and I believe it is also someone that I don’t know, which is really exciting.  In a strange turn of events, however, I happen to be working with one of the new deskers that just got hired and I thus haven’t met yet.  Midnight to six am shifts tend to be great bonding time if you’re open to it, so I am planning on forcing myself to remain present and engaged in the spirit of the project.  It will probably take a redbull and some coffee, given that I haven’t been sleeping much lately; I’ll have the results for you tomorrow.

October 26, 2008

I slept eight hours last night!  It was so wonderful!  I ended up staying at my friend Andrew’s house, which was a strange throwback to junior high / early high school when we used to have sleepovers every weekend.  I went to coffee with Andrew and my other really good friend Jesika (who is also his girlfriend) around 10:30 last night, which is my pretty standard way of spending my nights when I’m home.  We talked politics, which was interesting given it was a topic that we tended to just avoid in high school.  I guess Andrew has been told he’s a bad Christian for voting no on eight, which is ridiculous… I was also informed my mom’s church is full of yes on eighters, so I’ll have to give her a call about that one.  Andrew and I then had his first legal shot at the gay bar next door, rounding out the conversation nicely.

Andrew and I got back to his house around one and talked for about an hour and a half… lately I have been seeing a ton of Jesika (she has been coming up to LA quite a bit since summer), but haven’t seen much of Andrew–especially just the two of us.  It was really nice to catch up, as it had been awhile.  Andrew is finally leaving “the OC” by transferring from Saddleback College to San Francisco State and I am so excited for him.  It should be a really good change, although he has some family commitments that might make it a bit of a challenge.  In the morning we had cereal together and he headed to Presbyterian Church of the Master (where I grew up going) for Sunday service, but I had to get home.

Location seems less important and less interesting as the project goes on.  The physicality of where I sleep isn’t terribly important anymore, just the shared experiences that are created as a result.  This is what I thought might happen, but am only now starting to actually not really care if I am on a couch in the living room / the floor of the bedroom / etc; it’s all just different ways of making meaning.

Hopefully Matt’s friend is still willing to have me over tonight… I need to give him a call about that.

October 25, 2008

Around ten last night I headed over to Matt’s apartment, without any expectations or idea of what was going to happen (it was a Friday night, so I rightly assumed we weren’t just going to sleep.)  I have known Matt since the pre-freshman year art open house, but I don’t really know much about him outside of his work and so I found myself very curious about what we were going to do.  It’s pretty rare that I go to someone’s house with no expectations, which is something I’m trying to do as a part of this project.  We increasingly judge people based on social applications such as Facebook, which provide us with an overwhelming amount of information before we even really spend any time with someone; this is a methodology that I am interested in avoiding by leaving myself open to new people and experiences, unmediated by my preconceptions.  I felt like I was really able to achieve this because of how little time I have previously spent with Matt, combined with his total willingness to include me in his night.  Before I go on, I think it’s a good time to mention that Sunday night will be my first time staying with a total stranger, so soon we’ll see exactly what it is like to enter into a situation with almost no previous knowledge of my hosts.

While moving around has been a total physical and emotional drain (I think I’m averaging five hours of sleep a night, while I tend to function much more fully on eight), there have been a few nights that have been completely rejuvenating via their ability to reassure me that there is actually something new to be discovered through this process.  Last night was one of those nights.  Matt, his roommate Gleb, and their friend (Gleb’s girlfriend?) Ashley were just getting ready for dinner when I arrived.  I had already eaten, but they were kind enough to provide me with a second dinner… it was really good, sausage with some sort of rice and red wine.  Dinner conversation was an examination of the difference between media art and art, with Matt essentially arguing that art tends to revel in creating multiple meanings via an inherent ambiguity.  I don’t know that anyone there really bought into the distinction UCLA maintains between the two, but it did make for a really interesting and productive conversation (one that I feel particularly invested in as I constantly struggle with how to keep my work open and honest without resorting to ambiguity.)

After dinner we went to two parties, which were full of art and design students… somehow I largely missed really socializing with either of these groups over the last three years, making it a rare treat to spend time with them outside of class.  I had some good conversation, very tasty sangria, and got to know Matt and his friends a little better; this was followed by some more wine at Matt’s and finally crashing in Gleb’s vacant bed.

Every night has created some sort of different experience and thus I don’t know that I can really rank them, but the nights that have felt the most rewarding for me are the ones where my host is someone I don’t know that well and someone who is willing to match my investment with an equal investment of their own.  I think John and Matt both present good examples of this, as I hadn’t really ever connected with either of them but they were both so willing / interested in sharing themselves and being an active part of the project.

I’ve also been reflecting on why the sleeping over is so important and I am realizing that it sets up a situation where I have to remain socially engaged past my natural point of comfort.  This is the space where things begin to move past small talk and into the much more intimate, sincere territory that I want to explore.  Going for many nights in a row is also key because I can’t just disengage myself for the night, secure in the knowledge that the next day I can go back to doing what I want / seeing who I want / enjoying the solitude and comfort of my own bed.  Unless I want to have a hellish, incredibly unproductive month I have to train myself to relish the space I share with those kind enough to house me the same way I normally relish my own privacy.

I made a commitment to come home to Mission Viejo this weekend months before planning this project.  Although I was able to cut it down from three nights to one night, I will have to break the constraints of the piece again this evening.  However, I will be sleeping at a friend’s place (I still need to find the friend) and not my own house, continuing my general “investigation”… tomorrow things will continue with Matt’s choice as usual.

October 24, 2008

As one might be able to discern from the image, I never made it over to Matt’s.  Last night some friends from home visited and I ended up drinking more than I should have / intended to because no one really liked the whiskey sours that I made… so I finished everything that was left over.  At this point I was pretty intoxicated, but still not that bad.  A few minutes before I was planning on heading over to Matt’s, however, I took one hit from a pipe at Amanda’s (I’m kind of concerned that my parents read this blog, but figure I need to be honest) and within minutes was throwing up for the next hour or so, followed by passing out on her bathroom floor.  I don’t drink enough to get drunk very often and smoke even less than that, so last night was kind of a huge unpleasant surprise (I have definitely never drank enough to throw up before.)

Despite the fact that last night was pretty much a wash in terms of the project, I am not allowing myself to go back to sleep.  I might take a very short nap later in the day, but am essentially going to live with the two and a half hours of sleep I got last night in the hopes of maintaining some sort of conceptual integrity.  This also puts me in the awkward position of apologizing to Matt for never showing up and asking him if I can sleep over tonight; if not, I will be sleeping outside.  I am quite disappointed in myself.

UPDATE:  Matt has agreed to have me over tonight, thus continuing the flow of the project.  This makes me feel a lot better about everything.  Hoorah!

October 23, 2008

I was starting to nod off in senior studio today; fortunately we stopped the video and began to discuss it before I was able to actually fall asleep.  I haven’t been this constantly tired in awhile, nor have I ever consumed this much coffee before (at least one to three times a day at this point.)  I didn’t get over to John’s until three last night, but figured I would still be able to get a good night’s rest since I don’t have class until one on Thursdays.  Well we ended up talking until 4:45 or so plus I woke up a ton of times, pretty much killing my plan.  Part of it was due to the futon just being uncomfortable, the other was that I was sharing the living room with one of John’s roommate’s friends… she was on the pull-out couch next to me.  It was kind of a fun situation to be sharing this room with a total stranger that I never did meet (anonymous sleepover!), but she got up earlier than me and woke me up a few times even though she clearly tried to get ready as quietly as possible.

Aside from feeling like a total zombie all day, last night was really really good.  So far John has been the person that I have spent the least time with prior to this project, but for some reason his house was where I have felt the most comfortable.  I’ve been reflecting on why and I think that it had something to do with the way the apartment is laid out: unlike most Westwood apartments, the living room is fairly separate from the rest of the place and even has its own doors so I felt much less like I was intruding upon everyone by sleeping there.  John and I also had a really good conversation when I first got there, which was pretty sweet.  Not only did we talk about web design, drumming, traveling, the current state of cell phones, etc. but John was really open and sharing–including playing me his audition tape for the UCLA drumline.  Amazing.  John also showed me some pretty cool websites that he frequents and I’m going to share one with you because it is so crazy: http://www.instructables.com/.  People post instructions on how to make different wonderful things… I love it.  While I have been writing this, John called to tell me I’m sleeping over at Matt Weiden’s tonight.  This is kind of blowing my mind, as that is a jump from one circle of friends to another circle of friends and I had no idea that they knew each other.

Earlier today I was thinking about component #1 from yesterday’s post and how it relates to when I questioned if this project would “live up to the hype.”  When I said that I was being slightly mocking, but I think it does seriously relate to one of the ways I see my work creating physical exchanges.  Ever since I started doing “performances” I noticed that people who might not be particularly interested or invested in the visual arts love to argue about how much one can eat from a vending machine, if twenty-four hours of video game playing will effect the way one looks, etc.  This direct physical engagement with the body is something that has become an important part of my practice and I love that people seem to positively respond to and question that physicality, even projecting it onto themselves and how they might respond to whatever situation I have created for myself.

October 22, 2008

I see this project as consisting of three main components:

1. The physical exchanges between me and my hosts… conversations we have, time we spend together, food we share, planning the logistics of the next night, etc.  This is not something I feel I can adequately share with those who are not participating, nor am I even interested in that.  Performances are never the same unless you were there.
2. This blog as an honest diary / reflection chronicling my experiences and opening up the space of the project beyond those immediately involved.  The option to comment is made available for anyone who wants to, but ultimately this is a place for me to present this process as I see and live it.
3. The physical installation to be shown after the thirty nights have elapsed, presented in conjunction with another project I am currently working involving participants’ “last meals”.  I am currently thinking this will consist of a printed collection of the photographs, connected to form a timeline or social-web of those who housed me.

#1 should manifest itself naturally–it is essentially built into the project parameters, assuming I am being honest and open to what is going on.  #3 is fairly irrelevant at the moment, given I cannot really plan an installation of a performance when it is only a fifth done.  #2 is where I am most focused at the moment.  Now that the innate shock of sleeping elsewhere has worn off and I am getting used to writing a blog (the necessary egotism and openness is incredibly unnatural for me), I really need to make sure that these entries are as honest and encapsulating of my experience as possible.  This is as much a part of the work as any other and will really be the only way for me to examine and present what happens on a night-to-night basis, as opposed to just telling people something trite and dishonest after the project is completed.  “It was awkward” or “I really connected with people” do not do the experience justice.

On that note, this morning in new genres was the first time I have fallen asleep in class in probably two years.  I think that really shows the physical toll this is taking, even if Harry did show four straight hours of video.  I have been going to sleep later than I normally would when I have to get up early the next morning and getting up earlier than I normally would on days when I can sleep in–a combination of the inevitable (socially necessary) pre-sleep talking and having to get up when anyone in the house does.

Last night I slept at Dominick’s, but didn’t get over there until close to one when he got back from a concert.  Earlier in the night his roommate Brian invited me over early to play xbox, which would have been amazing… but this was before I discovered Brian had also clogged my sink while helping cook his aforementioned last meal.  So I headed over there after about two and a half hours of sink plunging and dish washing instead.  Dom and I only talked for a few minutes since we both had to get up real early this morning, but I did propose a collaborative project that we’re hopefully going to work on where he covers various people’s “breakup songs” and I make videos for them.  I was pretty excited to get to talk about it (which I think I played down); I have wanted to work with him for years now, but the right idea never really coalesced.

Falling asleep on their giant fluffy couch was fine, although I could hear Brian and the other roommate Wes talking in the other room and I would have loved to hang out if I wasn’t already only going to get five hours of sleep.  I don’t remember waking up at all and in the morning I immediately silenced my cell phone alarm, barely getting up in time to leave for class.  Tonight I am sleeping at Dom’s bandmate John’s house, which happens to be right next to where I slept outside the other day.  John and I see a lot of each other, but rarely talk (and I usually have no understanding of what he is talking about–often math and drumline) so hopefully it will be a good chance for conversation and a way to move out of my immediate circle of friends.  I do, however, have plans to go to Knott’s tonight with some coworkers and so hopefully my getting back late will work out with his schedule… I still need to find that out.

Today Julie in the New Genres department heard about the project and asked if I had talked to any actual homeless people my age.  I had not and didn’t really even think it was much of a problem, but I guess it is.  She gave me the name of a place where she teaches video (Common Grounds) and I think I’m going to at least look into it.  I don’t know how much I feel it relates to this project (I am not really engaging in or with homelessness on any meaningful level) but it is definitely an interesting connection that I should explore.

October 21, 2008

Last night I slept over at Lindsey and Sadia’s, which was a pleasure.  I arrived around 12:30 to discover Lindsey had borrowed a futon from a friend so that I wouldn’t have to sleep directly on the wood!  It was actually really comfortable.  We talked for about an hour and then went to sleep… it was definitely the best night’s sleep I’ve had since Amanda’s couch.  I had to get up at eight for work and was provided with both coffee and a travel mug!  So wonderful.  Tonight I will be staying with my good friend (and Lindsey’s boyfriend) Dominick and I must say that I am already looking forward to their incredibly padded couch.

In response to recent concerns brought up over a twenty minute nap I took yesterday: no, it does not defeat the purpose.  I have cut down my napping immensely and am not using napping as an excuse to avoid sleeping at night or anything like that, but I do have two other studios that I can’t just ignore because I am too tired to function.  Blame the UC system?  Since beginning this project I have taken two naps (both of which were under thirty minutes) and they were directly related to my work / class schedule–not where / how I slept the night before.

October 20, 2008

Ok so I’m going to do my best to try and stay coherent, given that I am incredibly tired right now. Navid didn’t end up finding anywhere for me to sleep last night and so I spent my first night outside. My friends Sonja and Stacey have a weird patio thing near their apartment and I had been planning on using it the first time I had to sleep outside, although I was hoping it would be farther into the project (I can’t sleep in the same place twice outside either, so next time will certainly be more unpleasant.) Once I stopped feeling sorry for myself, it turned out to be a pretty nice experience–it was a beautiful night out, being serenaded by the faint sounds of the 405 while gazing at the roughly fifteen stars not succumbing to the light pollution. Seriously though, it was beautiful and really not that cold… which is just about all I could ask for. The couch was comfortable, but small, leaving me to either curl into a ball or hang my feet off the side; I would switch between the two each of the numerous times that I woke up. I had to get up at 6:30 for class, meaning I didn’t get many hours of such fitful sleep, but did get to avoid any awkward confrontations with the other residents of the building.

Tonight I get to choose a new starting point and my friend Lindsey has agreed to let me sleep over, which should hopefully put me in a position to go more than three places in a row. C’mon, really? Three? I’m pretty sure we can do better than that.

October 19, 2008

I got over to Navid’s around midnight, pretty tired from the game… only to discover that everyone was studying and I had forgotten to bring my reading.  So I walked home and back again, after which Navid and I talked for awhile and did a bit of homework.  I went to sleep pretty quickly and didn’t really wake up at all–again, the open balcony situation makes for a really nice night.  I got up once one of Navid’s roommates came out at tenish.  I was originally planning on staying for breakfast, but Navid was still in his room and I couldn’t deal with the awkwardness of waking up to people I didn’t know (plus I had to get some things done before work at noon.)  I’m definitely going to do things like stay for breakfast if it’s offered, but I’m still trying to get used to this whole situation first.

Last night was the first time I have ever considered just quitting during an “endurance” piece, which is kind of disheartening after only three days.  It’s kind of terrible having to be social right up to the moment I go to sleep and starting again as soon as I wake up, plus I have to really bend my schedule to the people who are letting me sleep over.  I knew that would be the case, but it is actually pretty taxing in practice.  Of course I’m not going to quit, but it is nice that pretty much everyone knows about this project and would never let me live it down if I didn’t make it thirty days.  Since planning this, I have become aware of Tehching Hsieh’s work and I have to say that looking at all his year-long “performances” should keep me from whining too much: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehching_Hsieh.

I hadn’t really planned this out or anything, but I am informally deciding that I’m not allowed to go back to sleep in the morning when I get back to my apartment… because I’m tempted to do it each time.  Naps are fine, but I’m not going to go back to sleep at least until I have finished my blog entry for the day.  These things take me an incredible amount of time and I am always quite awake once I am done.

Lastly, I am frequently asked why I am doing this and I want to take a second to write down a few of my thoughts on the subject.  I am interested in the isolation frequently seen in our contemporary society and how (if at all) art can examine and/or bridge that gap–hence the use of those around me in every work I have made in the last year.  Ultimately I don’t have a goal that I am trying to achieve, just living under a different set of parameters and seeing what happens as a result.  I want to use “art” to create an active space where the arbitrary systems we have created are revealed and the possibility for change becomes feasible; process is more important than any result.  The entire work is placed in the hands of those involved, as is my own comfort… it is an exercise in trust, generosity, and uncertainty.  Hopefully it will create a dialog with / between those participating (and even those who are just watching) and it will definitely change my thinking and understanding.  It is an attempt to do something.  Before you ask, yes this was partially influenced by couch surfing; like most of my practice it stems out of things I encounter in my daily life and then seek to push in new ways.  There will for sure be more on this in the upcoming weeks, but I think looking at some of my other work would help to clarify my investment for anyone interested.

I have no idea where I’m sleeping tonight!

October 18, 2008

Amanda’s couch is amazing.  I seriously haven’t been that out in a long time… and as a result I woke up incredibly confused about where I was, which was kind of fun.  I ended up going over there after I got off work at midnight and we all went to sleep pretty quickly thereafter.  Having the living room to myself was nice, especially since the balcony doors were open and it was surprisingly pleasant to fall asleep to the sounds of a Westwood Friday night.  In the morning I went straight to the football game with Amanda and some people and only stopped by my apartment to get clothes before working six to nine tonight.

I’ve discovered that I really like looking around other people’s rooms as I’m falling asleep: I’m so used to always seeing the same things every night that it makes for a really surreal experience to be in new oddly half-lit spaces.  I’m curious if the novelty will fade in a week or two.  Regardless, I have my newest apartment!  I’ll be staying with Navid tonight, the third coworker in a row kind enough to house me!

October 17, 2008

The first night away was officially a success!  I went out with some friends to celebrate three twenty-firsts and then slept at Jac’s apartment when we got back (she was out with us, which made things pretty easy.)  There happened to be an open bed for the night and I am quite appreciative of getting to use it… although I may have underestimated how ridiculously hot my sleeping bag is going to be.  That may be an issue.

It wasn’t really a big deal at all (I’ve known Jac quite awhile and I was slightly inebriated) but it is definitely going to be awkward if / when it gets around to people I don’t know very well.  First, there’s the “is it time to go to sleep yet” stage.  Next, the “let’s hope I don’t creepily talk in my sleep” (which my roommate maintains I do pretty regularly) stage.  Then the “uh… it’s morning… do I just leave?” stage.  It’s all a little stressful given sleep is such a vulnerable state that we usually don’t share with many people.

It looks like Jac and her roommate Randi decided that I’m going to be sleeping at Amanda’s tonight.  This should be fine considering we’re pretty good friends as well… although there was a discussion last night about how much Jac should fuck with me, so I guess we’ll see where I end up.

October 16, 2008

Well: last night was the last night in my bed for the next thirty days.  I don’t really have that much to say about it, given it wasn’t really anything new.  Ideally I would have slept an epic ten hours or something; unfortunately I couldn’t fall asleep and had to get up at 5:20 for work, leaving me with a solid four.  On the brighter side, my roommate found me a couch for tonight at our friends’ apartment and I’m pretty excited to actually get this project started / see where it goes!

Just for the record, this piece has already generated more interest and excitement than anything else I have done at UCLA… hopefully it’ll live up to the hype?!

hi.  my name is elliott kaplan and this is my ucla art undergraduate thesis:

for this project, I will not be sleeping in my apartment for a period of exactly thirty days.  I will begin by spending the night of Oct. 15 in my room, as usual… the next day my roommate will be responsible for finding me a place (couch / floor / empty bed / etc) to sleep on.  whoever’s place I stay at that night will then be responsible for finding me a place for the next night; the process will continue until Nov. 15, when I will again sleep in my lovely bed.  each morning I will photograph where I slept and post the photograph (along with a journal entry) on this blog.  a physical installation of all the images and text will be shown in room 2140 of the Broad Art Center from [Amended Nov. 16] Dec. 1 – Dec. 5 // the opening will be Thursday Dec. 4.

rules and stipulations:

1. [Amended Nov. 3]  I cannot sleep in the same room or apartment twice.
2. If my host is unwilling or unable to find me a place for the next night, I will spend the night outside and choose an entirely new host the next night.
3. If I am required to work from midnight to six am, I will sleep at work after my shift; my next location will thus be delayed by one day.
4. Every location must be within an hour of ucla, taking into account that I must either walk / bike / bus / be given a ride.  Any location that I cannot get to or from (given these constraints) will be ignored.
5. Personal safety will override any other artistic or aesthetic concerns.
6. [Added Oct. 19]  I will not allow myself to go back to sleep until after I have finished my blog entry for the day.
7. [Added Oct. 21]  Naps will be kept to a bare minimum and only used to ensure that I can adequately complete my other school-related obligations.
8. [Added Oct. 22]  Blog entries need to remain “honest and encapsulating,” avoiding brief / trite summary.
9. [Added Oct. 25]  I will not look up anyone on Facebook before visiting their house.
10. [Added Nov. 2, Amended Nov. 5]  Blog entries must avoid unnecessary synopsis / relate actual concrete experiences / stop tracing complicated relationships.

thank you!