MOVINGPOEMS.COM features RIVER ÉTUDE

I am honored to have my newest experimental video poem featured on MOVINGPOEMS.COM

RIVER ÉTUDE

YOKO ONO

"The only sound that exists to me is the sound of the mind." 

Yoko Ono, 1966

Color Field #2: The Elements

HOMEGROWN STORIES --- (click Title)
PLACE & SPACE 

 INVITED GUEST ARTIST -- COLIN IVES!
Homegrown Stories is an online media project that began June 2013 but is informed by over two decades of media work by the two collaborating artists LeAnn Erickson and Sandy Dyas.  Each of the artists has a deep commitment to the aesthetics of still photography as it applies to the moving image as well as an intellectual interest in questions of personal space, the act of storytelling and the primacy of place in shaping one’s world view.

Embracing a one-shot aesthetic, the project is designed as a ‘conversation’ between collaborators, with each new posting inspired by the previous post. Using ‘pocket’ technology, such as smart phones and point-and-shoot cameras, the project seeks to capitalize on the serendipitous results of spontaneous interaction with one’s environment.

LOST IN THE MIDWEST new book of photographs by Sandra Louise Dyas

Lost in the Midwest

By Sandra Louise Dyas

The art of being yourself | Caroline McHugh | TEDxMiltonKeynesWomen

Laurie Anderson & Lou Reed Interviewed by Charlie Rose (2003) - Part One

Laurie Anderson: Advice to the Young

Laurie Anderson A Life of Storytelling

Diane Arbus

WAS DIANE ARBUS THE MOST RADICAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE 20TH CENTURY?

Nan Goldin and The Ballad of Sexual Dependency

DARK ROOMS -- by Hilton Als is an excellent essay about Nan Goldin -- "Nan Goldin's Life in Progress" published in the New Yorker Magazine (July 4, 2016). I received a hard-copy of the article in the mail from my friend Rene Paine. We had just been in NYC in June. 

“Trixie on the Ladder, NYC” (1979): Goldin “showed life as it was happening.”PHOTOGRAPH BY NAN GOLDIN / COURTESY MATTHEW MARKS GALLERY

I was lucky. Really lucky. I was in NYC with my friend Rene Paine a few weeks ago. We stayed with friends of ours in Brooklyn. We had a few days and nights so we hustled and walked miles to see as much as we possibly could. My feet are still sore. I left a pair of worn-out mule Naots on the sidewalk outside of Mark and Amanda's apartment.

Amanda works for MoMA and she gave us comp tickets. Amanda and Mark and their daughter Ida live in Brooklyn. Rene, Mark and I worked in Iowa City for Public Access TV in the 1990s. Rene was the director at that time. It was pretty wonderful to catch up with Mark as well as get to know Amanda and Ida. Getting free tickets to MoMA was a plus and the shows that were up -- triple plus.

Nan Goldin's "Ballad of Sexual Dependency" is a book but before it was a book it was a slide show with music. I got to experience the slide show with Goldin's set list of music (1985) in person at MoMA. Hearing the music she chose for her slide show was one of the best things about being there. Of course I expected to hear Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, but Petula Clark's "Downtown" was a surprise as well as a Randy Newman song.

Golden was born in 1953, same year as I was born. Her life growing up was vastly different from mine but still, I can relate to some of what she felt. It was a weird time to grow up. You are in-between as a female. I mean I grew up with expectations of my life's goal of being a housewife with children. I recall quite vividly the night laying in my bed at the age of fifteen thinking..."I will be married by the time I am twenty...that is only five years from now."

We were in-between because of the limited expectations and roles of women in the fifties..daughters, wives, mothers. Growing up on a farm in Iowa, going to a tiny rural school in the town of Andrew, population 350 and shrinking, thinking beyond these roles was unfathomable.

Which leads me to another exhibition I was very fortunate to witness at MoMa. It is a collection of works from the 1960s (1960-1969) - completely up my alley -- much of which I am familiar with (Bruce Nauman's early video work, Valie Export, Nam June Paik and many others) but some of the work I hadn't heard of. Very exciting, very fun, I could have lingered in those rooms for days....

"...this presentation focuses on a decade in which interdisciplinary artistic experimentation flourished, traditional mediums were transformed, and sociopolitical upheaval occurred across the globe. The galleries proceed chronologically, with work installed by year. This organizing principle steps back from the classification of galleries by art historical themes or “isms” and instead aims to provide a variety of fresh discoveries and unexpected connections." 

A large collection of dada works was also being exhibited. Score! DADAGLOBE! Really enjoyed seeing the collaborative works and the correspondence amount the artists.

"Dadaglobe Reconstructed reunites over 100 works created for Dadaglobe, Tristan Tzara’s planned but unrealized magnum opus, originally slated for publication in 1921. An ambitious anthology that aimed to document Dada’s international activities, Dadaglobe was not merely a vehicle for existing works, but served as a catalyst for the production of new ones. Tzara invited some 50 artists from 10 countries to submit artworks in four categories: photographic self-portraits, photographs of artworks, original drawings, and layouts for book pages."

The Daily Palette -- Jesus, Crafted for Your Craving

From Cornfields to Cliffs and In Between: Daily Palette Artists Reimagine Iowa’s Landscape

Old Capitol Museum Exhibition
Tuesday, April 26, 2016 to Sunday, June 12, 2016

Jesus, Crafted for Your Craving, Highway 218, near Mount Pleasant, Iowa - Sandra Louise Dyas

Bertien van Manen - Photography - Dutch Photographer

LOVE her work! Especially the work she did in Ireland.

'Beyond everything': one woman's ghostly odyssey around Ireland

Sister Nuala, Bundoran Co. Donegal, from the series Beyond Maps and Atlases Photograph: Bertien van Manen

COLOR FIELD

Color Field from Sandy Dyas on Vimeo.

THIS WORK IS PART OF AN ON-GOING ONLINE VIDEO CONVERSATION.

SEE: HOMEGROWN STORIES FOR MORE

Homegrown Stories -- Online Video Project

Homegrown Stories is an online media project that began June 2013 but is informed by over two decades of media work by the two collaborating artists LeAnn Erickson and Sandy Dyas.  Each of the artists has a deep commitment to the aesthetics of still photography as it applies to the moving image as well as an intellectual interest in questions of personal space, the act of storytelling and the primacy of place in shaping one’s world view.

Embracing a one-shot aesthetic, the project is designed as a ‘conversation’ between collaborators, with each new posting inspired by the previous post. Using ‘pocket’ technology, such as smart phones and point-and-shoot cameras, the project seeks to capitalize on the serendipitous results of spontaneous interaction with one’s environment.

In 2015 the artists expanded the project to include invited artists.  Using a prompt, collaborators explore the parameters and push the boundaries of a chosen concept.

Harun Farocki | TateShots

Laurie Simmons | Studio Visit | TateShots

The Uniquely Weekly Roots Music RPM5

The Uniquely Weekly Roots Music RPM5 !

LizMungerPhotoClub -- Jason Levi Smith filmmaker/ Sandy Dyas photographer

lizmungerphotoclub - Sandy Dyas - accordion shoot - rough cut from JasonLeviSmith on Vimeo.

Wild & Precious - Work by Jesse Burke

I really really like this work by Jesse Burke. Beautiful, touching. Found it by looking at Fraction Magazine online.

A New American Picture

DOUG RICKARD - 

A NEW AMERICAN PICTURE

DOUG RICKARD - A NEW AMERICAN PICTURE

A NEW AMERICAN PICTURE - DOUG RICKARD

A NEW AMERICAN PICTURE - DOUG RICKARD

Sandra Louise Dyas Storms The Big Apple (ton)

Sandra Louise Dyas Storms The Big Apple (ton)

Big Thank YOU to ED MAXIN! He has a new blog called:

                         THE REAL EASY ED

                ROOTS MUSIC AND RANDOM THOUGHTS

Fourth Street Cafe, Keokuk, Iowa ~ Sandra Louise Dyas

HOMEGROWN STORIES -- LISTS....

#Homegrown Stories! Our newest collection of tiny videos prompted by a word. Latest three mini-films use the word "LISTS". LeAnn Erickson and myself been conversing via videos since 2013. Miriam Bennett is our guest artist: "Miriam Bennett is an American artist working in film, video and installation. Bennett’s films and videos have been featured at such venues as the Cleveland International Film Festival, The Art Museum of the Americas (Washington, DC), and The National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne, Australia), The Akron Art Museum, and in several US galleries in Cleveland, New York, and Chicago. She is the founder of Moving Studio Productions based in Akron, Ohio." 

Miriam, myself and three other past Intermedia artists were in the infamous # f/69 Band together --- a grand, absurd performance art group with ways of Fluxus -- we were at the University of Iowa together in Hans Breder's Intermedia and Video Art program. I met LeAnn Erickson there, too - albeit earlier in my ten year stint as an intermedia student.

HOMEGROWN STORIES

Tom Waits recites "The Laughing Heart"

ED MAXIN: The Uniquely Weekly Roots Music And Random Thoughts

The Uniquely Weekly Roots Music And Random Thoughts

new blog by Ed Maxin (EASY ED) on music, musicians and photography -- thank you Ed for including my photos!

Patti Smith and Her Photographs

“I take my camera everywhere I go, especially when I’m touring with the band,” said Smith on the phone from her home in Rockaway, Queens. “It’s hard for me to find the solitude I need for writing when I’m travelling, but with my camera, I’ve been able to take a little walk – visit a graveyard, look at statues or architecture – and if I get a picture I like, I feel like I’ve accomplished something.”

Patti Smith: 'I’m not trying to change the world with photography'

Patti Smith: Advice to the young

Chris Offutt - My Dad was a Porn Legend - ESQIRE Magazine

Chris Offutt's new book My Father, The Pornographer is out on February 9th, 2016. I cannot wait to read it. An incredible writer!  Very good review of the book in Esquire, My Dad was a Porn Legend (author photo by me!). Also take some time and enjoy reading this interview in the Oxford American: EXAMINATION AND COMPASSION by Phil McCausland, came out on my birthday, February 3rd.

Chris Offutt with MY FATHER, THE PORNOGRAPHER -- square books.com

Chris Offutt, Iowa City, Iowa (Sandra L. Dyas, Photo)

Chris Offutt, Iowa City, Iowa (Sandra L. Dyas Photo)

"Our Future Exists Because We Have Imagined It"

"Our Future Exists Because We Have Imagined It" was installed at the Peter Paul Luce Gallery, Cornell College Department of Art & Art History in November and early December 2015. Mike worked with MY PHOTO STUDENTS from #104 Photo Imaging -- all 15 of them + Michelle Mouton's writing students.

Mike Bianco visited Cornell College for two weeks -- it was fantastic to have him on campus, in the gallery and with our students.  Students worked with activist/artist Mike Bianco and created a wall of photos in the LUCE GALLERY at Cornell College.

My students were asked to envision their future - and in addition, I gave them several photographic assignments. Mike and my students did several workshops together. At the end of our block (3 1/2 weeks of class) we installed the wall of images my students created. They used all HOLGA cameras, black and white film and darkroom printing practices.

This exhibition/workshop was created by Mike Bianco, activist artist whose art practice "is invested in socially engaged art, and focuses on issues of politics, environment, sustainability, community activism, energy decline, and the impending “century of crisis.”

Professors Michelle Mouton & Sandy Dyas , and their photo & writing students gathered to talk about writing and photography they did in response to visiting artist & environmental activist Mike Bianco, and his challenge to imagine a Cornell College campus of the future. Environmental studies club likewise rose to the challenge and was awarded funding to begin working with the beehives on campus. Facilities workers planted a new swath of prairie on the south side of campus. Students are fired up! 

Almost finished installing my students' photos from this block. A Studio Basics in Art called Photo Imaging. All made with film in the darkroom.

Alexandra Young installs her photographs on the wall in Luce Gallery. My class is part of a collaborative work involving the work of artist Mike Bianco. Cornell College Department of Art & Art History