Ive Been Taking A Hiatus From Participatory Art Because Im Tired Of The Success Of A Project Being In

I’ve been taking a hiatus from participatory art because I’m tired of the success of a project being in the hands of other people. I have to rely on unreliable people enough in other parts of my life, I’d rather not have to deal with that in my art, at least for now. I’m a social person, so I’m naturally inclined to make social work, but for now I like the control of having a project that I can do all by myself.

Though I prefer the first photograph, I never felt quite right about the text placement, so I created a second version. This one reads stronger to me and is more similar visually to the version I made for Tokyo in the spring.

Zachary Trebellas. Ποιος θα μπορούσε να είμαι στη Θεσσαλονίκη; (Who could I be in Thessaloniki?). Text on 35mm photograph. 2015. In August I spent three weeks in Europe with my friend Shareen and my twin brother Miles. Ten of those days we spent traveling around Greece. As Greek-Americans, he and I were very curious to see the country we’d related to in various ways for our entire lives. As I expected, it was full of foreign and new experiences, but some familiar ones as well. I was happy to be able to see so much of the country and finally experience it first hand. At the same time, I knew ten days would be only a taste of Greek life. Like I did with Japan, I long to spend more time in Greece to get to know it as a place and culture, and to build my own Greek experiences and memories. I wonder when, down the road, I’ll be able to make that happen. Thessaloniki, Greece’s artistic capital and second city, is where I’d want to have that experience. I hope in the future I’m able to.

—— This piece is part of the series I’m working on, Nippo Greco American, exploring my relationship with the three ethnic groups I in some way identify with.

Zachary Trebellas. Pass/Watasu. Scanogram. 2015.

This is one piece of several pieces I’m working on that focus on the Japanese habits that have replaced my American ones. In Japan it’s expected that you’ll turn an item around so that it faces the other person before passing it to them with two hands. I’ve taken to rotating objects and passing them by hand in the States, though using two hands always seemed like a bit too much. —— This is part of the series I’m working on, Nippo Greco American, exploring my relationship with the three ethnic groups I in some way identify with.

Zachary Trebellas. 東京の私はどういう人かな (Who would I be in Tokyo?). Text on 35mm photograph. 2015.

One reason I left Japan after two years was I missed communities I’d been a part of in the US, namely the art community and other Quakers. In rural Amakusa there was little art world to speak of beyond the ceramics community, though I did become friends with a few of them. And after four years of regular attendance at Friends meetings in Illinois, I basically gave that all up for two years in Japan.

But in August I discovered that I didn’t have to go home to regain those things, I could just go to Tokyo. I hadn’t been there since age twenty, and I spent a week there before my return flight. In Tokyo I found the things I’d been missing about the US. A friend and I visited a large artist studio complex one day, and I checked out a grass-roots art festival in Yokohama the next. The Sunday before my return, I made my way to the Tokyo Friends Meeting and met Japanese Quakers for the first time. I even came out of the meeting with an interview offer at the Tokyo Friends School. 

Rural Japan always felt like a cultural compromise, but in Tokyo I didn’t have to give so much up. I never imagined I’d live there, but now, I wonder.

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This piece is part of the series I’m working on, Nippo Greco American, exploring my relationship with the three ethnic groups I in some way identify with. 

I whipped this up the other day to celebrate the fact that I’m back in the etsy game. Check out my shop if you’re curious!

New items all this month.

Two more shots from the Silver Lake Dunes.