Seeing as I am an American artist living and working in Mexico, I figured I would try to compile a list of other artists doing the same. Not Mexican artists living and working in mexico, that seems like a no brainer, but expats. I am curious to look at the impact living in this hot, beautiful, (some times) frustrating country has had on their work - either directly or obliquely.
If you have anything to contribute, please let me know.
Admittedly, the list is pretty short right now:
- Francis Alys (Belgium)
- Melanie Smith (UK)
Last week I was interviewed for NPRs On the Media about A Tool to Deceive and Slaughter. You can listen to the interview or read the transcript here at On the Media’s Website
Concrete Beach Day, Jan 16 2010
Right now my wife Marci, our dog Tugboat, and I live on the Caribbean in Tulum, Mexico. People have asked me how and why before, so I figured I would post a bit about it.
The Why is pretty simple, so I will answer that first. It is really nice. Really it is. Other than being kinda hot some times (around 40C/100F) and pretty humid. The weather is great. the Ocean is beautiful, and the beaches are some of the best in the world. Really, they are. If you have ever seen a Corona ad, it looks like that, but better. After graduating from RISD in June 2009, Marci and I were planning on moving to NYC. We were looking for apartments, jobs, etc. Then we watched a series of movies in pretty short succession. Yes Man, Up, and Away We Go. We hadn’t deliberately curated this collection, but it worked out that way. Each one started to plant seeds. So as we were walking out of Away We Go, I asked Marci (rather flippently) if she wanted to move to Mexico, instead of New York. We looked at each other and asked “Why Not” we kept asking ourselves this question. and the answer was always the same, “why not.” That was the first week of July, 2009. By the second week we had found an apartment. The third week we bought plane tickets ($120 each one way from Boston to Cancun). The fourth week we sold off our car and some furniture, moved into a storage unit. And on August 1, we were living in Mexico.
We came down for 3 months, and its been 8 so far.
The How is also pretty simple, so I answer that second. I am fortunate enough to to have a job where telecommuting is possible. If you don’t have that luxury, go get yourself a copy of The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris. It might give you some ideas on how to pull it off (even if you don’t think that you can). Even though I am half living the life outlined in there right now, it was a good, fast, motivational read…if you can get past some of the bragging.
I think ever 3 years I get irritated at myself for not maintaining a blog, and I start one up. I usually stick with it for a few months, then I get bored. Then a year or two passes and the cycle repeats. So here we are again.
In classically narcissistic blogging style I pretty much plan to write about myself. First about art, then about my life. Not to be conceited, but I think both are pretty interesting (I enjoy them at least). And my logic is that if I find it interesting, some one else might too.
So away we go.
