The Seeker is a recurring character from artist Jeff Soto's most recent solo exhibition, titled Lifecycle. The body of work touches on Soto's familiar themes of environmentalism and industrialization while adding deeply personal perspectives on family, life, and death.
Brought to vinyl life by friends at Bigshot Toyworks, the Seeker Art-Toy comes in 8 variations. I chose the "Ice" version with Narwhal horns to explore White Sands, New Mexico with me at sunrise. An intense wind and dust storm the day before left deep ripples of sand stretching to the horizon. The complimentary texture of Seeker's fur along with the tundra-like landscape helped make the character seem right at home.
At the resolution of the image above, it may be hard to see who else was wandering through the shifting sands, keeping the Seeker company...
I doubt that I'm not alone in my excitement for 2011 and the opportunities that the new year brings. In just four weeks I'll be traveling to East Jerusalem to begin work on WAR-TOYS with the Spafford Children's Center. The organization will be hosting me for a month while I collaborate with local staff and the children under their care. You'll be able to track my progress on the newly launched WAR-TOYS blog.
There have been a number of recent developments with the project that are worth sharing. First off is the addition of two brilliant Co-Producers to the production team. Both bring a wealth of experience and a relentless drive:
Rob Wilson is currently producing the ten-part series Oliver Stone's Secret History of America. He was previously an associate producer on Oliver Stone's documentaries Comandante and Persona Non Grata, as well as the features Alexander and World Trade Center. He recently completed documentaries on directors Howard Hawks and John Ford. Wilson is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston.
Suzie Gilbert joined Oliver Stone's production company Ixtlan in 2004, where she co-produced the feature film W. about George W. Bush, and most recently, the Latin American road trip documentary South of the Border. Her documentary short, A Tale of Two Fans, for Channel 4 in the UK, won the Lloyds Bank Channel 4 Film Challenge Award. She is the recipient of the Diana Meehan Fellowship for Feminism and Communication and a British Institute of Persian Studies Grant for her documentary research work in Brazil and Iran. Gilbert holds a B.A. in Social Anthropology from Cambridge University and an M.F.A. in Producing from USC Film School.
The WAR-TOYS project has received some very generous contributions from photo equipment manufacturers PhotoFlex and Manfrotto / Gitzo, as well as a large donation from the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery at St. Lawrence University. I'll be exhibiting and lecturing there in the Spring of 2012.
Despite the support, the current fundraising campaign is still about $15,000 short of its goal. The total displayed on the website doesn't reflect the contributions mentioned above. With a week left to give, I'd be grateful if you consider making a tax-deductible contribution via the project's fiscal sponsor - Fractured Atlas, a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts service organization. Thanks to their support, contributions in behalf of WAR-TOYS may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. The campaign's goal of $30,000 seeks to cover expenses such as travel, hiring of local crew, sound and video equipment, and locally acquired toys.
For more information on WAR-TOYS, please visit the project's website or its campaign page on Fractured Atlas.
Thanks for your continued support,
Brian
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