I know you were all probably having your doubts because last time I posted I was somewhere in Europe and that was several months ago...is he still there? Did he make it back ok? Is he lost? What about internet access?
The answer to all these questions is yes: I am still alive. I had a wonderful conversation with a friend the other day who was asking what had happened to my online presence. He asked me to continue to express myself because, while it may seem like a waste of time to me or not a top priority, one never knows how these things truly influence others. This basic idea served as a strong reminder of how influenced I was by the art of others growing up and my duty as an artist to continue to express it in the public space, regardless of my location in life; Also my duty to be conscious of my artistic expression and to continually develop it. Thank you Ryan for the reminder.
I currently find myself back in Ames, Iowa finishing up my Bachelor's in Liberal Studies; I will be graduating this May and part of my lack of attention to this page has been events surrounding this experience. After Poland, I made my way to Cambridge, Massachussets and spent a summer at Harvard University (I have some pictures from Boston that I would like to share at some point...) and back to Iowa for a time.
The reasons I have failed to update this is a result of (1) the high pace of the last few months which has rendered my free time to write and share very limited, (2) the process of self-exploration that was bred throughout my summers travels and as I look toward the future that graduation brings with it, and (3) my general need for a time to sit back and refocus myself as an individual, as a citizen, as an entrepreneur and as an artist. The processes set into motion I hope will lead to a better understanding of myself and my craft. This is going to result in a few developments.
For starters, I am removing my website, pkorovilas.com, from the web for a time. In the process of refocusing, I want to expolore the messaging of my website as a tool for self-expression. From now on then, this blog will be my main source of e-self, as well as my twitter (@pakphotos). Don't worry, I hope to bring it back into full force, once the time is right and I am ready.
Second, I want to use this blog, less as a mere source of self-promotion, but more as a tool for self-expression. As a photographer it is easy to consider that as my craft merely and that websites, blogs, ect. are merely a marketing means to the end that is making photography. Yet, as a result of recent expriences and in my process of refocusing, I would like to see art as something more holisic and myself as a more holistic artist; a refletion of existence and my exprience, something that does not need to be confined merely to one medium but comes out in the best mediums possible or available whether this be photography, painting, blogs, interactive websites, or social movements and events. Art, I have come to believe, is living, not merely the tangible expression of that experience.
From this basic premise, I also hope that this blog becomes more of a basis for that experience, more of a record of that personal journey, and in effect, more of a personal exprience for both myself and my audience. Yet, the success of this last development also rests on you.
It is easy, as a blogger, to believe your efforts are for nothing or simply being created in a vacuum. This then, looses the icentive to continue to create as the purpose, atleast to me, of this tool is the connection I make and share with my audience. So, I ask of you:
That as I begin to share my experience with you, that you too, share yours with me. Email me your thoughts and responses to pantelisak@gmail.com. If you share a connection to my words or imagery, if you can relate to a thought, or you just have a general response/reaction. I would love to hear it.
It reminds me, as Ryan did, that art is not merely about my self-expression but that its tangible recreation occurs in the public realm, as opposed to merely my internal dispositions and tastes, and thus is also something that requires you to create. It also reminds me of the subtle ways in which art can influence and inspire people. This blog will continue, but it needs fuel from you, I need your help.
So here I am and here we go. This is it. I hope you follow along!
Thanks for bearing with so many words and so little images!Attached are some of the imagery that I created last night and that influenced this post and the first steps on this journey. Thanks Emily for being a part of them!
Hugs and love!
-P.
