Primtive tools are indispensible for primitive tasks. Conversely, technological advances have allowed for the increased discovery, development and production of advanced hallmarks of 2010, such as medicine, satellite networks, and green building materials. Similarly, technology avails new ways to realize artwork and designs and further engage the human capacities to evoke, invoke, and grasp. During my work of the last 15 years, it's increaingly more feasible to imagine greater detail at scale.

We are in a time of a diminished threshold between the craft of human handwork and machine operation. Human handwork traditionally carries a mystique and potential for irreplaceable value. Machine operation at scale is typically more economical than manual labor. Relating to artwork, aspects of quality can be meticulously digitized and routed though interoperating digital systems. Some features are optimal when hand wrought, whereas others are inherently robust when machine produced, and within a custom production environment, intermixed hand work and the machine product allow for layers of deconstruction, working, and reconstruction with effectively no loss of quality or detail. In the end, the vision is clearer.

Ultimately, there is a liberation where the hands are set free. Extensible toolsets allow for the feasible creation of custom tools and virtual workers to utilize those tools, where the limitations of scale and detail are only restricted by the virtually boundless parameters of a digital network. The feeling and intent of human gesture, handwork, and inspired expression can be coherently manufactured as integral layers of the sum of machine produced elements. The experiential aggregate of detail at scale is uniquely compelling. My feeling is that we live in a fascinating age indeed. Click to see more.

The public art commission for the R17 elevated rapid transit station began in spring of 2001. The project continued into 2009. Artwork development traversed from human interaction to conceptual integration to learning to know the land. The art program is a framework within a framework within a framework. The glass framework is integrated with the sculptural form of the architecture, a brushwork structure delineates graphic framing, and multi-media composition tells of the grandeur of nature and a love of the land. The R17 station was built between Half Cliff Mountain and the World Games Stadium. Click to see more.

The human body breathes. Respiration is a natural process that oxygenates blood. Quality of air varies. People inhale and exhale on polluted city streets. Others breathe in oxygen-rich forests. Similarly, the mind absorbs experience. As an active association to immediate reality, mental meandering avails meditation, reverie, and discovery.

Imagine a painter preparing a palette. That painter can plan conceptually from enduring aesthetic attributes. Fundamental raw material of aesthetics exists as a malleable entity. Aesthetics transcend style boundaries, thus categorically escaping trend and tradition to celebrate the art itself.

ACADEMIC:    Art Center College of Design, Oakland University, Mount San Jacinto College, Gnomon School of Visual Effects, Oakland Community College, and completed design apprenticeship with Ron Wood.

SEEING:   Continental United States, Hawaiian Islands, Canada, Taiwan, Mexico, Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica, Aruba, Jamaica, Bahamas, Germany, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic, Holland, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Ireland, and Monaco.

 

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Alpspitze, 1991   |  C. Janssen, 2007.11.22.15:17

 

ASCENT IN GERMAN ALPS WITH BROTHER, NEIL.

 

Growth and decay are synergetic phenomena concurrently sustaining interdependent life cycles.

VIP hospitality at Chicago's most energetic clubs escorted the night through to daylight. Three days later, I awoke from a coma.

I did not want to die. It was no longer my choice. I had fallen from a third story balcony. The IMMC Trauma Unit kept my body alive. Machines fed me and cycled oxygen through my lungs. Surgeons reconstructed shattered bone. My beautiful mother stayed beside me—without eating or sleeping, only praying and talking—manifesting an ultimate expression of love. On the third day cranial hemorrhaging ceased, permitting doctors to exclude brain surgery.

Family drove me home in an adapted van after two weeks hospitalization. Partial paralysis of the third nerve impaired vision. I could not speak clearly, think clearly, or walk. I was carried. There are many to whom I extend solemn gratitude.

In 1994, neuropsychiatry testing measured adaptation: neurological response to cortex trauma—my brain transferred side-dominance from left to right. After having part of my head crushed, capable and previously 'dormant' neurological functionality compensated for impairment. Those who knew me noticed new personality. My interests changed. Foci honed. Abilities emerged. Passions evolved.

In 1995, neurological sequelae included petite mal and temporal lobe seizures, cognitive impairment, chronic headaches, visual hallucinations, significant difficulty with short-term memory, attention, and concentration.

With time, seizures and impairments faded—replaced with renewed passion, clarity, and versatile capabilities. Twelve years later, invigoration grips hold while pedaling a 21-mile loop along the San Francisco Bay.

The extent to which you engage life is a choice restated with every action.