emails sent to curator Noah Simblist about ideas for the show:

Hey Noah, Just wanted to let you know which direction I believe I am heading with this show. As I've been thinking about the parameters: one night show, store/office space in Ft. Worth, etc... a thought has reoccurred to me several times, and that is to take some part of me and San Antonio to that space there in Ft. Worth. It seems obvious, of course I am going to take some part of me to that space, that is the whole idea of an artist having a show, but this effort and idea kept wanting to go further than that. The idea was more about home, and bringing some part of my home to Ft. Worth as a type of gift to you and the viewers for letting me participate in the show and in exchange you get to participate in my life in some way as well. I've been dwelling on the idea of home for awhile now, and I am constantly amazed at how this idea of home is almost a revolutionary blessing. It is a place that provides stability in these uncertain times, it provides rest from our constant hustle, and it is a place that can provide love when love can be hard to find. As Americans we pride ourselves in our independent spirit, but I feel that spirit has been a detriment to the home. We can't do it alone, we need help and support and we shouldn't be ashamed to seek it out. We are being shaped by these times, and these times are fragmenting us more than bringing us together,and so with that in mind I am making a conscious effort to build and cherish a home for my self. So you may be asking, How is this going to manifest into a show and could it possibly speak to such lofty notions? Believe me, I too am asking that question and wondering what I've gotten myself into, but here is how I'm starting: Right now I am now in the process of documenting and working with strictly found materials in my backyard. I like this process for a couple of reasons, first of all I am investigating and discovering my yard as an artist. These discoveries are resulting in new sound works (played on my swing set, and recordings taken from my cellar), collages, a video (or slides) and small sculptures. Beyond the joy of learning my own yard is that I get to bring what I've discovered and share it with the folks up in Ft. Worth. I will be bringing the outside of my home to the inside of that space, a piece of San Antonio is displaced and travels to Ft. Worth. So I will be outside taking field recordings and digging around till I see you next, hoping in some way that by investigating a part of what makes my home a home I can start to understand more fully what it means and perhaps share some of that wonder with the viewers. Talk to you soon. Justin

 Hey Noah, Hope your well and good, I just wanted to fill you in a bit on what I've been thinking about and working on regarding the show. As I've been running the parameters of the show over in my mind: a one night show, in an office/store space, in Ft. Worth, etc... an idea keeps reoccurring to me, and that is to take some part of me and San Antonio north up 35 to share with you all in Ft. Worth. This seems obvious right? Of course I'm going to share something I've done with you, that being the nature of a show. But this idea of sharing something kept coming back, more like, take a gift from San Antonio to share with the folks up there for letting you participate. So my next thought was, well what do I have to share right now? And I thought about it quite a lot and realized that what I have to share right now is my home. My home may seem like an odd choice for something to share, but I've been dwelling on the idea of home for awhile now so the idea of using it came to my mind pretty quickly. I've been thinking about how the home is this place of almost revolutionary blessing in this day and age. A place that provides stability in uncertain times, a place that provides rest from our constant hustle, and a place to find unconditional love when anything without conditions or clauses can be hard to find, much less love. And I've been thinking about why and how this has come to be? Maybe it is just the rough economic and social times we are in, but I feel it is deeper than that. I feel it is in part to blame on our American spirit. That rugged quest for independence and individualism that has served us so well has also led to us fracturing ourselves from our base. We can't do it alone anymore, now more than ever and given these times we are in I am striving to carve out a space with my loved ones that can be supportive, stable and loving. So how then to go about making a show that speaks in some way to the notion of home and perhaps reveals a bit of mine in the process? Good question, I've been working on it and here is what I've come up with: I am going to use only things found in my yard as my source material. This idea excites me in a couple of different ways: First I get to discover a part of my home as an artist, so this has led to new audio pieces (made on my swingset and in my cellar), a video piece (or slides, not sure yet), collages and small sculptures. In addition to the joy of my own discovery I get to share this wonder with the viewers there in the metroplex. I get to bring a part of my home to what was a commercial space, I get to bring my outside to that inside, and I get transpose a part of San Antonio to Ft. Worth. It is my hope that by investigating a part of the structure of my home that I can share and reveal a bit about its foundations and how it is coming together; and that there will be a certain universality to it so that many folks can enjoy it and discover it as I have. So till I see you next I will be outside taking field recordings and digging around. Hope this finds you well. Justin