Have You Seen My Dog?

The Finale Doth Approach

2007-10-29T22:59:00.000-07:00

After typing in this box for what seemed like half an eternity, my computer burped and the words vaporized. Frustation has given way to fatigue and I leave behind me the merest impression of what I will try to recreate tomorrow.

Words
mine, yours, stranger's
strange
strung together
coherence vs. incoherence

Ideas
flier exchange, flier's eye view of the community
plan of action
yours, mine (reverse that)
are there any good ones left???

Art
broad strokes
self
public, guerrilla, natural
words as
NYT exhibit featuring words

Self identity

Framing

Extracted Abstraction

2007-10-16T19:57:00.000-07:00

You know how the clone of a clone of a clone is a little fuzzy around the edges? Do you think the same thing happens with ideas? I hope not. You may recognize the verbiage in the above photograph of a sign, which was kindly scribbled, posted and shot by ReX in New Orleans.

I met with my mentor again tonight and we had some great banter. Abstraction was again heavily explored. And too, more questions asked. I can feel closure up ahead. It's nearby, but we're not there just yet.

I didn't answer some of the questions I posed in my last entry and I wanted to make sure to do two things: 1) answer them, or if not then; 2) let it be known that I'm processing the answers.

What does this project mean? What kind of changes have occurred in the daily lives of the participants and blog visitors? And does it have any bearing whatsoever on the creators whose messages we have captured and shared with one another? Of these, the last is the easiest to answer. I think the only way this project could have meaning to anyone is if they'd seen it. Right? I'm going to revisit this in just a moment.

The first two questions actually address something much deeper--what is the impact of knowledge? Once you learn something, so what? I need your help answering that, within the parameters more or less of this project. What is it that called to you about this particular project (other than the persistence of a friend)? What did you see in the idea? Did that thing change once you engaged yourself in it?

So could there be a lasting effect on someone who has no knowledge of the project's existence?

I'll leave you to steep with those thoughts for now and with two images. I'm still collecting and posting images as they come in so feel free to continue submissions. And if the inspiration should strike, please share your thoughts on anything I've offered here.

Orangutan exhibit, Atlanta Zoo, 9/2007, Steve

Glimpse at inner thought process of blauthor, Tucson, 10/16/07

Intersection

2007-10-13T16:50:00.000-07:00

Imagine a location where abstract ideas crash into one another. Ethics meets creativity, responsibility meets art. Art meets ethics, creativity meets responsibility. And so on and so forth. Probably more than anything else, these are the ideas which have held me captive since undertaking this project. Of course we've also had the other Cs with which to contend--community, context, collaboration. All of these concepts mingle together, netting us what exactly?

I've been asked, more than once, what this project means, why it is that I felt compelled to collect such trivial things as lost pet posters and images of defaced stop signs. I've been asked who owns the images I've so boldly displayed. I've been asked how the intent of the original message morphs when I remove it from the original context and paste it into cyberspace as entertainment. I've been asked what exactly community means to me.

On the face of it, Have You Seen My Dog? is an exercise in observation, an invitation to take a deeper glance at one's environment of both the mundane and the extraordinary. I've heard from just about all of the participants how great it was to be asked to look at the things we more or less ignore on a daily basis, the blight of neighborhoods or the boringness of traffic insignia. Maybe that's the foundation of community, the physicality of our surroundings, the meticulous infrastructure provided by landmarks and signposts, and the heft of an occasional written message pasted within the landscape. But that's not the whole of community.

But these days, community has come to mean much, much more than the neighborhood where your house sits. Everyone I know belongs to a handful, or a bushelful of communities. We're no longer limited to familial, ethnic or educational groupings, and largely because of the global/local reach of the internet, we can elect to belong to communities which share no physical boundaries whatsoever. Yes, there are those among you who will argue that the earth itself offers a physical commonality, but I kindly thank you for allowing me to discard that fact for the purpose of this discussion.

I'd like to think that I've created a community of sorts here, a place where artists, voyeurs, pet parents and friends have come together to share a vision of how our world truly looks. Perhaps I've done that, but at the end of the day each of us belongs to another community, and one beyond that again and again and again. The artists among us differentiate between graffiti artists and photographers and sculptors. The voyeurs belong to family groups, company groups, church groups. The hub and spoke model is alive and well where the idea of community is concerned. Tonight I'm happy to describe myself with myriad identifiers and among them are: night owl, poet, thinker, daughter, social servant, teacher, artist, provocateur. Which communities can count you among their population statistics?

In case you had ever wondered, there were images I chose not to publish here. In the case of a couple shots, they just didn't seem to quite fit in and I had no problem making that decision. In one other case, someone submitted a license plate as a funny sign. I hemmed and hawed over whether to include it and I opted not to. It was a difficult decision from an ethical perspective and I've tried to explain it a couple times without much luck. Before I go into my explanation, there's a little more background I need to offer. Invariably while I've argued my stance, the argument has come up that I didn't include a license plate but that several of the posters I did include had phone numbers and/or email addresses. Here is my justification.

With a license plate, I can find some very specific personal information by filing a request with my local motor vehicle department (though exactly what's available may vary by state). The registered owner's name(s) and address as well as insurance and lien information is right there on the record in Arizona. I realize that anyone who buys a vanity plate is purposefully exhibiting some kind of information or attitude (and I speak from experience), but it seems like an intrusion to me to flaunt a license plate here. Now, admittedly I made no move whatsoever to ghost or obscure phone numbers and email addresses that were visible in posters. My feeling is this--the owner/author of the sign volunteered that information and opened him/herself up for contact. The argument seems weak, even to me, but the truth of the matter is that when confronted with the license plate and phone number choices, I instinctively knew which choice was right in each case. I realize that choice is mine, and mine alone. Other artists/exhibitors may make other choices and that's fine with me.

I'm leaning heavily tonight on the abstractions behind the project. There's more on the tip of my tongue, but I don't want to wear out my welcome just yet. I leave you tonight with a few new images, weighty or whimsical though they may be. I would ask that you consider a couple dueling concepts as you scroll through the rest of this post: permanence and transience.

Stone & 6th St, Tucson, 10/2007

Lakefront, New Orleans, 10/8/07, ReX

Valley & 6th Ave N, lower Queen Anne, Seattle WA, Sherri

Portable art, Tangerine & the 10, Marana, 10/6/07

Recruitment

2007-10-02T19:53:00.001-07:00

I've spent a handful of years working in non-profit social services, most of which operated with large contingencies of volunteers waiting in the wings. To attract all those volunteers, my colleagues and I have had to come with with some crafty ways to grab the attention of passersby and ill-affected youth looking for extra credit in random high school classes. I'm at a loss as to why that vein of creativity didn't kick into high gear when I started this project...I had a great chat tonight with my course mentor who made the suggestion I should create a flier asking people to participate in this project. Duh! Why didn't I think of that?!?!

Well I'm done kicking myself in the buttocks and have created just such a flier (see below). And I find myself asking, once again, for your generous help. I have the document available as both Word and PDF documents and will send one to you lickety-split if you would be so kind as to post one or 23 somewhere in your community. We've still got at least a couple weeks and I would love to see a wider geographical representation amongst our collection. Any takers? Ah, come on! You know you want to!

Signs You Might See While Driving

2007-09-30T20:37:00.000-07:00

I made no move whatsoever to group this next set thematically. It just sort of happened. This is another collaboration amongst veterans of this project with Alanna, ReX and myself pitching a few more captures out there.

I really thought I would see some kind of definitive, cultural boundary emerge in the messages we've found, but a month into it I just don't see that happening. What about you? Maybe it's in the signs we're finding--more likely, it's simply where we're looking. Then again, maybe it's not so simple.

As we near the end (and no, I don't know exactly when we'll be done with this), I invite you to think about perhaps posting your own message out there in the actual, physical world. And if you think of it, snap a picture and send it my way so I can post it in the cyberworld.

"Ork Ahead," 8th St west of 4th Avenue, Tucson, 9/26/07, Alanna

Delano near Los Altos, Tucson, 9/28/07

Moped belonging to my neighbor, Tucson, 9/28/07

8th St west of 4th Avenue, Tucson, 9/26/07, Alanna

Mountain Avenue & Limberlost, Tucson, 9/29/07

"confession declaration or complaint?," Ft. Lowell near Oracle, Tucson, 9/30/07

"U.F.O. 907," New Orleans, 9/2007, ReX
(Originally posted at this site and used with permission)

1411 Miles from North of the Border

2007-09-26T19:37:00.000-07:00

ReX uploaded a photo from his project yesterday which, in my mind, dovetails nicely into ours over here on Have You Seen My Dog? There's a real sense of dialogue here--four separate entries happened on this spot. There's a definite give and take, followed up with some communal grist. Is grist a word? If you're not familiar with what ReX has going on, or if you're wondering about the gray/grey, please go check out NOLA Rising.

"Goose Says...," New Orleans, 9/25/07, ReX

North of the Border

2007-09-26T18:30:00.000-07:00

All Tucson, all the time. Well, at least for tonight. There's a sign in tonight's set that I first saw several years ago and it always made me chuckle. I can't believe I forgot about it until this far into the project.

Also included are three signs from my own neighborhood, which is a colorful place. In fact, I've heard it described by more than one source as "crack central" or "the heroin 'hood." Certain parts of the neighborhood probably earned those nicknames, but by and large I'm in an energetic area. One of my first posts was of a graffiti tag down the street with a simple message: "flow." Flow has struck again, just a block north of the previous site. I've also seen "flow" about a mile north of my house, but just off the same axis.

Shooting this set felt both lighter, mood-wise, and truer, artistically speaking. There's some inner process kicking into crank mode. More on that this weekend.

"Coco," Glenn & Fontana Avenue, Tucson, 9/26/07

Delano & 2nd St, Tucson, 9/26/07

"T-Rex" trailer in front of T-Rex Museum, Drachman near Stone, Tucson, 9/26/07

Sale, Grande Avenue south of Congress, Tucson, 9/26/07

Sign en espanol in front of Ward 1 offices, Grande Avenue north of Congress,
Tucson, 9/26/07

"Lost. . . Mix," Delano & 2nd Street, Tucson, 9/26/07

Flow strikes again, Delano near Fontana Avenue, Tucson, 9/26/07
(we're starting to see style and/or signature emerge)

My favorite Tucson sign, Pima near Alvernon Way, Tucson, 9/26/07

Another Set

2007-09-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

Miles, another new collaborator, joins our ranks in this entry with a handful of found shots, and Alanna tosses another two shots into this cybergallery. Now, I'm including two pictures that many will say do not belong in this collection. The naysayers may not be wrong, but I'm going to offer an argument anyhow.

I started this project with the thinking that random, written messages would reveal something about us, or if not the bigger us than at least the some. There are revelations to be found in the words we choose, and elect not to choose, and as a writer, this is a reality for me. But much like Amanda's Vegas submissions--and the suggestion that iconography speaks as loudly as words--I include Miles's door and alien below because there is a narrative built into the very fabric of each icon. Maybe there's a message for you, maybe there isn't.

Dialog about it is both warranted and welcomed.

9th St near Euclid, Tucson, 9/24/07, Alanna

Roswell, New Mexico, Miles

"Monks on the Doors of St Francis of Asis," Rancho de Taos New Mexico, Miles

Earth, Texas, Miles

Eagle Nest, New Mexico, Miles

"Road Does Not End," Amarillo, Texas, Miles

More? Yes!

2007-09-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post, I mused that perhaps C.W. (in particular, but to be inferred that all participants) are somehow strengthening their connection to their communities by paying closer attention to the temporary landmarks we're so voyeuristically collecting. I'm not yet ready to speak to the depth or enhancement of those connections, but today while my mom and I were out driving around, I pulled hard off the road to catch the lost Boxer pic below. To be fair, we'd once driven by that sign already and when I spotted it, I knew I wanted to go back and experience my clickwhirr moment to bring it home for this post. But my mom hadn't seen it and I suppose she feared I was ill or being chased down by the police. She looked more than a little puzzled and asked me what I was doing. I said I'd seen a sign and was going to hop out real fast. She immediately wanted to know how I'd seen it.

I likely offered some sarcastic comment, but the truth is I'm developing a fast-focus ability. It isn't the same thing as developing a deeper connection with this place and these people, but I think it's an important first or second step.

A newcomer joins our collaboration with tonight's post. An AmeriCorps friend, Alanna, sent in a couple pictures today, both animal-related...one lost, one found. I also found a few tasty morsels out on the streets. I even "found" a sign in my car, a note I picked up off the ground in Prescott that is much in the same vein as Found Magazine's raisons des etres. It's been in my car since the discovery, underneath some stuff in the glove compartment. I uncovered it today. Yes, yes, I have some too-much-stuff issues.

"Kiss-Kiss," Euclid & University, Tucson, 9/22/07, Alanna

Found dog, Mountain Ave near Grant, Tucson, 9/23/07, Alanna

"Danger," about a mile into Sabino Canyon, Tucson, 9/22/07

Lost cat, door to women's restroom at Sabino Canyon, Tucson, 9/22/07

Lost dog, Magee near La Cholla, Tucson, 9/23/07

Note found on Prescott College campus, Prescott AZ, 4/2007

"Deep Hole," construction yard on Lambert Lane, Oro Valley, 9/23/07

They're Only Words

2007-09-20T22:06:00.001-07:00

Over the last five days, I have spent the better part of my off-time trying to structure a narrative of sorts to post here. In my head, this narrative is flowing, eloquent, insightful and heading towards profound. But outside my head, that's a whole different story.

I don't typically have stumbling blocks like this when I write. Even when I don't have a clear idea what I'm writing about, I'm always able to write around that obstacle and I usually arrive at an interesting point.

But what do I talk about when there are already words there for everyone to see? I'm not a big fan of digesting and redigesting aloud the purpose and intent and greater meaning of every last little syllable. And while it's tempting to dissect the methods by which these signs are posted, does that actually matter?

So then, what's left? How about what the process is doing? Or what these words mean out of context? C.W. had an interesting comment on his own blog. He said that this "project is forcing me to explore my mundane environ (okay it's Austin so it's pretty hip) with a new set of eyes." I can only hope that this new way of looking at his community is something that sticks, that maybe the glimpses he takes after this project is long gone are deeper somehow, and more peering at the undercurrent all around.

If we're not looking at the methods and we're not looking at the words themselves, what if we look at the purpose of the messages? That seems like a better plan, yes? What I'm seeing as your images generously roll in is that most messages are falling into one of two categories: informative/functional, and intentional. Here are some examples:
Informative/functional--lost pets, bikes, keys; found dogs; warnings; advertisements; free stuff.
Intentional--stop sign art; messages of hope; instructions.

All the messages we've collected serve some kind of point, even if we don't quite catch it. But out of context, a new meaning can be formulated. And how much further out of context can a message be than to be picked up, shipped across state lines and plunked down in cyberspace for all the world to see?

I find I've been thinking about one sign in particular. I've given it much more time than I'll admit to. It's C.W.'s "comments" sign. I know, I know it seems odd for me to devote any amount of time to it. But in true Sina-fashion, I got to thinking (and overthinking) the origins of this sign. It seems to me that not much thought went into its creation. It looks like someone printed it out at a 72 font, threw a rough cut around it and taped it onto the mailbox. I have to wonder if they really want comments. Then again, how much effort should be expended in asking for what will most often be complaints?

I think I'll wrap this up for now, but I have a better idea how my next verbose interjection might go. In the meantime, I welcome your comments on this or any post.

Great Catch!

2007-09-20T19:06:00.000-07:00

In this next set, largely courtesy of Amanda in Las Vegas, we get to encounter for the first time images themselves as messages. There's a great deal of iconography built into the landmarks of Las Vegas, each with probable common messages but perhaps they carry deeper (or sillier) meanings for someone out there. Another glimpse from C.W. in Austin with a sign whose sort typified what I thought we would be finding and so it maybe has extra importance to me since it is a rarity among the collection at Dog. I'll be out in the community tomorrow a-hunting for some more sabor de Tucson. And I promise I'm writing a narrative about the process--it's much more difficult than I anticipated. I'm doing some more fine-tuning tonight and will post it very soon.

Free shit, Austin, 9/2007, C.W.

Hooters Part I, Las Vegas, 9/2007, Amanda

A place to avoid at night, Las Vegas, 9/2007, Amanda

The flashiest Motel 6 you'll ever see, 9/2007, Amanda

Inside a Cracker Barrel, Nashville, 9/2007, Amanda

Sign atop a building in the Liberace Commercial Plaza,
Las Vegas, 9/2007, Amanda

Cheap-ass food Vegas style, Las Vegas, 9/2007, Amanda

9/2007, Amanda

The sign is in there really, Las Vegas, 9/2007, Amanda

A county so small, it only has one high school, 9/2007, Amanda

Hooters Part II, I-40 towards Savannah TN, 9/2007, Amanda

Howdy, Y'All!

2007-09-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

Another handful of pics made their way to me courtesy of C.W. He grabbed an entirely cool piece of what I suppose I'll call "urban art." If I'm learning nothing else in this undertaking, it's that there is good stuff to see everywhere. I heard from a friend in Las Vegas who will be tossing some of her glimpses southward very soon.

Note left at Tom Landry's Memorial stone at the State Cemetery,
Austin, 9/17/07, C.W.

Comments box at Rudy's BBQ, Austin, 9/17/07, C.W.

Sign at Rudy's BBQ, Austin, 9/17/07, C.W.

Dog Dish at S. Congress coffee shop, Austin, 9/17/07, C.W.

Small wire art left on a stop sign on S. Congress Ave., Austin, 9/17/07, C.W.

A Few More Words

2007-09-15T19:16:00.000-07:00

I braved a late-day thunderstorm today to grab a few more sign pics. I think I shot what, at the end of the project, I will likely consider to be my best find. You may agree. I'm taking tomorrow off from this gathering of verbiage, but I will offer some of my own words about how this course is progressing. Don't let that dissuade you, however, from venturing out in your community and trolling for other people's words.

Oracle & Wetmore, Tucson, 9/15/07

Northern & Calle Dadivoso, Oro Valley, 9/15/07

Zarragoza & Ina, Tucson, 9/15/07

Prince & Flowing Wells, Tucson, 9/15/07

Wetmore & La Cholla, Tucson, 9/15/07

Calle Concordia & Oracle, Oro Valley, 9/15/07

Prince east of Oracle, Tucson, 9/15/07

In Celebration of Our One-Week Anniversary

2007-09-14T21:31:00.000-07:00

Some great collaborative finds since my last post. I heard from a longtime family friend who just returned from Europe. While she was there, she found a couple glorious pieces and she was nice enough to share! C.W. found himself in Luckenbach, Texas and tossed another couple in my direction. I have two shots in this grouping including the image that got the ball rolling for this particular project, a playful piece found on a wall at the back of a parking lot in July. And finally, I present the last NOLA set from ReX.

I have this tip to offer before making the rounds of my favorite sites tonight: if you find yourself face-to-sign, take the picture right then. Don't wait, don't mutter to yourself you'll go back later. I have twice thought that only to find myself staring at blank space. The art that got away, it was good stuff!

Many, many thanks to everyone who has submitted images and redistributed my pleas to their groups. I'm also posting calls to artists on craigslist.org, so watch for my words to hit your cyberspace.

View from docked cruise ship, Barcelona, 2007, Jeri

French leMcDonalds, France, 2007, Jeri

Luckenbach, TX, 9/13/07, C.W.

True Love circa 1976,
Luckenbach TX, 9/13/07, C.W.

Missing: Strange Bike, End of 36th St, Tucson, 9/13/07

Graffiti near Campbell & Ft. Lowell, Tucson, 7/07

Lakeview Area, New Orleans, 2007, ReX
(ReX notes: about two years before, you could have used that boat to
escape the flooding almost exactly where it is)

Riverfront, New Orleans, 2007, ReX

Medical District, New Orleans, 2007, ReX

Faubourg Marigny, New Orleans, 2007, ReX

Lower 9th Ward (Fats Domino's house), New Orleans, 2007, ReX

Rolling Ever Forward

2007-09-12T18:10:00.000-07:00

I have a few more pictures to offer to the masses today. Some more from ReX in New Orleans and a couple from C.W. in Austin. I want the images to stand more or less on their own and to that end, I will be offering a weekly (perhaps twice or thrice weekly) recap of some of my thoughts about the images I'm showing here as well as about the collection and "gallery" process as an independent post. With no further ado, I present...

South Congress, Austin, 9/2007, C.W.

Central City, New Orleans, 2007, art & photo by ReX

"Duckan Buried" (a recycled can project),
New Orleans, 2007, art by duCkAN, photo by ReX

Lower Garden District,
New Orleans, 2007, art & photo by ReX

"Simon Park," Vera's Park at the corner of Jackson Ave & Magazine St,
New Orleans, sign by Simon, photo by ReX

Stencil, a collaboration between duCkAN and Skeleton Krewe,
New Orleans, 2007, photo by ReX

A Strong Start

2007-09-11T17:45:00.000-07:00

Less than a week into this project, I find myself on the lucky end of things. I've already heard from two gentle and generous strangers, one of whom sent me a veritable vault of images from New Orleans. It seems like maybe he's in the middle of an artistic, political, personal and communal movement and I'm sure you'll find his pictures bring you to where desperation, horror and awe collide with beauty, hope and whimsy to create reality. Of course, this is my sentiment alone. Your experience with them will be a murky resemblance of mine, perhaps, and you'll add your own bit of nuance. It also seems like maybe he and I are working towards a somewhat similar goal, going about it from different ends of the same spectrum. In any case, I owe him a great debt of gratitude for he's given me blanket permission to use his images at Have You Seen My Dog? for my project. I strongly suggest visiting his efforts here and here.

I also found some signage today whilst out and about before and after work. My pictures follow the NOLA set. Now is as good a time as any to say that pictures without artist/author details are most likely to have been shot by me. All others will specify either the photographer's name or "anonymous."

Lower 9th Ward, New Orleans, 2007, ReX

"World of Words," New Orleans, 9/2007, ReX

Lower 9th Ward, New Orleans, 2007, ReX

Uptown New Orleans, 2007, ReX

Lower 9th Ward, New Orleans, 2007, ReX

Fontana Ave & Blacklidge, Tucson, 9/11/07

4th Ave & Speedway, Tucson, 9/11/07

Blacklidge near 1st Ave, Tucson, 9/11/07

Pastime & Stone, Tucson, 9/11/07

Grande Ave near St. Marys, Tucson, 9/11/07

Drumroll, Please

2007-09-07T17:53:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the blog for my Prescott College course Language in Society: Micro-Messages in Communities. You see micro-messages everyday, but you may not often take the time to look at them. Micro-messages are things like lost pet posters, handbills stapled to telephone poles, fliers found on bulletin boards at the grocery store and sometimes even graffiti. They're almost always passionate, their tone falling somewhere between pleading, fleeting and desperate.

I first started watching for these communiques a few years ago when I discovered Ian Phillips' book Lost: Lost and Found Pet Posters From Around the World. Each page in the book is dedicated to a single poster about missing dogs, cats, turtles, ferrets and, in one case, a missing grilled cheese sandwich. I read through it and chuckled when appropriate, and offered several sighs of sympathy not just about the context but also of the posters themselves. It's funny how much a handful of words can reveal about the authors/pet parents/someone who is steeping in emotion. Of course, those revelations are just superimposed with my own agenda. I can only create meaning based on my own experience.

Not long after finishing Ian's book, I widened my everyday focus to include other short collections of gathered words scribbled or typed on paper or even spray-painted on the random wall, for all the world to see. Even with my pointed observations, I'm probably only seeing 10% of what's out there to be seen.

And that's how you factor into this project. I need your help. I want to find as many of these micro-messages as possible. Grab your cameras (digital, SLR, Polaroid, Holga, heck even slate & chalk might work!) and take a look around your world. You need not scour every last street in your hometown (though that sort of ambition is widely applauded)...rather, take a casual glance or perhaps even linger in the moment and snap a picture of those posters, fliers, vandalism, local billboards and any other short-format signage that catches your eye. Submission guidelines are near the top right of this page, though I may need to fine-tune the guidelines as we move forward.

Thanks for playing and have a groovilicious night!