On December 19, 2019, the front page of the “paper of record” read in 72-point type across its top: “TRUMP IMPEACHED” It was at this point that I embarked on the weekly part of this project, “Today I Got Up”, a series that chronicles the front page of the New York Times observing the font size of the main headline. For the next 13 months, I noted each day the headline appeared in all capital letters and exceeded 30 points. I then extracted two words from each headline and placed them on a page, creating a kind of concrete poetry. If the font size did not exceed 30 points, no words were chosen and the space was left blank. I then hand painted the selected words onto the rear of a sheet of photo rag paper, pushing the ink through its fibers using various methods and force, resulting in a blurred almost unreadable text. Each print represents a week of headlines. In addition, I included any graphs of data that may have appeared.
For me, this application visualizes and mimics how I feel as each day unfolds and new events and experiences are layered upon the past, absorbing and sometimes obscuring those that preceded them.
How news is told and sold has been a long-standing interest of mine. I find as I move through these difficult times I often feel numbed and saturated by the data and statics that pour over me day after day, leaving comprehension just beyond my grasp. “Today I Got Up” stands as my futile attempt to collate the historic and ephemeral news cycle that we live in.
This project pays homage to the seminal works of On Kawara, “Today” and “I Got Up”. Those works affirmed his own existence and in return, ours. It is my hope that this series might offer similar reflections.
“Today I Got Up” covers the dates of November 19, 2019 through January 21, 2021, the inauguration of President Biden, and there are 58 prints in total.
"Today I Got Up" is a body of work within of my ongoing project, "Residual Ink Drawings", a series that utilizes reclaimed ink from empty ink jet cartridges.
"Today I Got Up" was named a 2021 Finalist in the 95th Annual at The Print Center by David Campany and Larissa Goldston and was included in the exhibition "Fit To Print" at The Print Center curated by Dr. Ksenia Nouril and Lisa Blas. The work was also featured in Musee Magazine Issue 25.
The Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University featured this series in a solo exhibit in 2022 as part of the Frances Nieder Artist-in-Residence program.