It’s time for a change. Look, See has moved, effective January 1, 2008:

looksee.chrisashley.net/

This new blog is powered by WordPress (I have been running a test version in parallel with this current blog since late October). It is my intention to continue making an HTML drawing for every day in 2008 and beyond. I see no reason to stop now.

Since April 2000 I have blogged at three locations.

1. April 6, 2000 to February 15, 2001: my first blog, XYZ, no longer functioning online, exists as an incomplete archive stashed under my current domain name. Powered by an early version of Manila running on my desktop at UC Berkeley.
2. February 21, 2001 to October 22, 2003: A Place to Work, Nothing Fancy, powered by Manila on a Windows server at UC Berkeley. It is not supposed to be online anymore, but surprisingly, it’s still there.
3. October 12, 2003 to December 31, 2007: the most recently past version of Look, See; hosted under my own domain at Cornerhost, it is powered by Movetable Type. The complete blog is intact, functional, and searchable. It comprises:
   1. 2,239 posts
   2. Approximately 1,541 HTML drawings (2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)
   3. Images of over 200 works on canvas and paper
   4. Forty eight essays and other related writing
   5. A bunch of other mostly art-related posts

The HTML drawings have been used to make inkjet prints that are hung in groups, typically by month; to date works based on this medium have been exhibited at eight galleries between May 2006 and January 31, 2008.

Landmarks & Anomalies

1. One of the earliest HTML drawings I can identify is Boxboy, posted November 24, 2000.
2. The first really satisfying HTML drawing is Night Driving, posted January 19, 2001.
3. One of the goofiest HTML drawings made is Cow, posted February 24, 2001.
4. A breakthrough occurred with Summer Short Stories, July 14-28, 2002; I realized how content was useful to the edge between abstraction and representation.
5. First use of images in HTML drawings during September 2005.
6. Animation, March 2006.
7. All 2004 HTML drawings
8. All 2005 HTML drawings
9. All 2006 HTML drawings
10. All 2007 HTML drawings

Please visit the new place, and if you can, update links and bookmarks.

Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow, 20071231, HTML, 310 x 230 pixels

The Birds Stop Their Singing, 20071230, HTML, 230 x 310 pixels

My Sweet Blue-Eyed Darling, 20071229, HTML, 310 x 230 pixels

I Made This For You reviewed by Timothy Buckwalter for KQED Arts & Culture:

Art Review : Chris Ashley: I Made This For You

I’m gonna say this right off, and then we can move on. Chris Ashley has created the grooviest advent calendar. Ever.

At some point that idea will hit you as you are wander through I Made This For You, Ashley’s current online show at Marjorie Wood Gallery. I’m sure there is some element of intent at work here; Ashley’s daily drawings are laid out in pop-up windows that represent the days of December.

When the calendar realization first hit me I lost interest in the work for a bit. It all seemed so hokey, and kinda hoary, but only for a brief while. Soon the serious joy that is the exhibition quickly lit back up.

And serious joy it is, in a hard edge sort of way.

Read the rest…

While Jesus is Bleeding, 20071228, HTML, 230 x 310 pixels

With Nothing to Sell, 20071227, HTML, 310 x 230 pixels

Dwell in That Shack, 20071226, HTML, 230 x 310 pixels

Where Happiness Never Ends, 20071225, HTML, 310 x 230 pixels

Up This Hill and Down, 20071224, HTML, 230 x 310 pixels

Sang in True, 20071223, HTML, 310 x 230 pixels

The Fire is Burning (Happy Birthday Ann), 20071222, HTML, 230 x 310 pixels

Set Your Fields on Fire, 20071221, HTML, 310 x 230 pixels

Small Praying Band, 20071220, HTML, 230 x 310 pixels