Author: David McGlynn

This is a reworking of scraps of photos from an earlier World Trade Center collage. It was the last time I photographed the towers before 9/11. Prior to that I had been occasionally taking pictures of the towers, and making photo collages, since 1979. I can remember not having too much of a plan for that collage, and in fact never really pursued it (until well after 9/11). Now the remaining scraps and negatives are unexpectedly precious. Among the many emotions and feelings arising from the tragic events of 9/11, a fleeting feeling of guilt sometimes stand out – why didn’t I take more pictures, make more collages of this wonderful pair of absurd architectural monoliths?

The collage here speaks to my/our ongoing efforts to make sense of the events of 9/11, working from our fragmented memories as we try to put back together what was broken, reflexively building a spiritual composite in our minds from the best parts, similar to how we keep alive a positive memory of a passed loved one. I really, really do miss those buildings.

Please enjoy a selection of images from my ’12 in 21’ adventure, a year-long series of month-long art/photography projects. 12 in 21 truly was an opportunity for me to delve into projects and interests usually pushed to the side. I explored various still life work, photograms made in the darkroom, experiments with analog film manipulation, various light painting, digital collage, Photoshop, various processing apps, even delved into video and sound. I made hundreds of images and videos, and produced over 1,500 ‘Finals’. Some of my favorites are here in this grouping (link below), the rest are sprinkled throughout the past years blog entries. Apart from putting together this group, December’s behind-the-scenes project is converting some of this work into NFTs.  Thanks for having a look!

In Motion is the November 2021 installment of ’12 in 21’, a year-long series of month-long art/photography projects. 12 in 21 is an opportunity to delve into projects and interests usually pushed to the side. Visually, there is no set agenda, just energetic exploration allowing the process to inform and inspire. In the current series I am extending the themes of recent 2D projects into the realm of moving images and sound.  I am making simple loops using various imagery sources; old, new, moving and still, then adding music and sounds some from existing recordings and from my embryonic journey into digital recording. Thanks for looking (and listening) and please subscribe! 

“I started by making music that I wanted to listen to“ – Brian Eno

“I started making music by stealing Brian Eno’s music“ – David McGlynn

“Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable” – Banksy

In Motion is the November 2021 installment of ’12 in 21’, a year-long series of month-long art/photography projects. 12 in 21 is an opportunity to delve into projects and interests usually pushed to the side. Visually, there is no set agenda, just energetic exploration allowing the process to inform and inspire. In the current series I am extending the themes of recent 2D projects into the realm of moving images and sound.  I am making simple loops using various imagery sources; old, new, moving and still, then adding music and sounds some from existing recordings and from my embryonic journey into digital recording. Thanks for looking (and listening) and please subscribe! 

“I started by making music that I wanted to listen to“ – Brian Eno

Figurine Reboot is Part 3 of the October 2021 installment of ’12 in 21’, a year-long series of month-long art/photography projects. 12 in 21 is an opportunity to delve into projects and interests usually pushed to the side. Visually, there is no set agenda, just energetic exploration allowing the process to inform and inspire. Many of the projects are analog based. In the current series I am revisiting working with toy figurines. The bulk of my prior work with figurines was creating clever pictures for stock photography agencies, which inevitably led to a series of professional assignments as well. In the new series I’m following my nose, experimenting, and having fun. Thanks for looking and please subscribe! 

Figurine Reboot is Part 2 of the October 2021 installment of ’12 in 21’, a year-long series of month-long art/photography projects. 12 in 21 is an opportunity to delve into projects and interests usually pushed to the side. Visually, there is no set agenda, just energetic exploration allowing the process to inform and inspire. Many of the projects are analog based. In the current series I am revisiting working with toy figurines. The bulk of my prior work with figurines was creating clever pictures for stock photography agencies, which inevitably led to a series of professional assignments as well. In the new series I’m following my nose, experimenting, and having fun. Thanks for looking and please subscribe! 

Figurine Reboot is the October 2021 installment of ’12 in 21’, a year-long series of month-long art/photography projects. 12 in 21 is an opportunity to delve into projects and interests usually pushed to the side. Visually, there is no set agenda, just energetic exploration allowing the process to inform and inspire. Many of the projects are analog based. In the current series I am revisiting working with toy figurines. The bulk of my prior work with figurines was creating clever pictures for stock photography agencies, which inevitably led to a series of professional assignments as well. In the new series I’m following my nose, experimenting, and having fun. Thanks for looking and please subscribe! 

Figurine Reboot is the October 2021 installment of ’12 in 21’, a year-long series of month-long art/photography projects. 12 in 21 is an opportunity to delve into projects and interests usually pushed to the side. Visually, there is no set agenda, just energetic exploration allowing the process to inform and inspire. Many of the projects are analog based. In this series I am revisiting working with toy figurines. The bulk of my prior work with figurines was creating clever pictures for stock photo agencies, which inevitably led to a series of professional assignments as well. Here is a sampling of this earlier work. In the new series I’ll be following my nose, experimenting, and having fun. Thanks for looking and please subscribe! 

This month I am digging out old unfinished collage projects and attempting to resuscitate them, jolting them back to life, like Dr. Frankenstein, but for art. It is turning out more like taking that leftover piece of chicken from last nights not-so-satisfying dinner, and trying to revive it with that weird Trader Joe’s taco sauce that you also don’t much care for, plus some grated cheese etc….  And you eat it anyway.

Apps, Filters and Templates is the August 2021 installment of ’12 in 21’, a year-long series of month-long art/photography projects. 12 in 21 is an opportunity to delve into projects and interests usually pushed to the side. Visually, there is no set agenda, just energetic exploration allowing the process to inform and inspire. Many of the projects are analog based. In this series I am freely, loosely, and liberally playing around with various photo manipulation apps, filters and templates, both on my mobile device and using Photoshop on the desktop. I am using a wide variety of my own images. It’s Summertime, no time for serious, meaningful artwork that conforms to some rigorous, abstract self-assigned standard of quality or aesthetics. Screw that, let’s relax and have a little fun. Thanks for looking and please subscribe!