Monday, December 18, 2006

My Office

This is my office.

I'm subjecting myself to this public humiliation in hopes that my pride will finally kick in and make me clean up a bit. So, who here thinks I can have the place in ship-shape by New Years!?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Is this thing on?

21 comments:

Bob Eggleton (Zillabob) said...

Irene, I could one-up you on some of that. All over my house too. You're creative, it's normal for all of us. It only becomes an issue when one "stack" slides into another stack and so on and so on...and you are having "paperlanches" onto the floor.

Irene Gallo said...

I think I'm reaching that breaking point, Bob. But I hear ya. I once declared that I would keep my office clean for a solid week. (This was many, many years ago.) I ended spending _all_ week putting things away. Really, I don't know how neat people get anything done. ;-)

John Klima said...

It doesn't look as bad as I remember it... :D

John Klima

Bob Eggleton (Zillabob) said...

Breaking point? Okay, sometime I will send you a pic of my toy collection. Or whatever it is. It's taller than me AND fills closets. ANd part of the studio.

"Neatness is the sign of a sick mind", as they say. We'll never have to worry about that, ever.

Pablo Defendini said...

"A place for everything..." Go Irene, go!

Patrick, I feel ya, man. I've lived with 'Oscar' roommates/lovers/family members forever, it makes for some ah... interesting living dynamics. They don't mind so much when I go into "I can't take it anymore!" cleaning-mode, though. Around my house, if it's Saturday, and Led Zeppelin's blastin' from the speakers, you'd better get out of my way, or you might get sucked into the vacuum cleaner.

Irene Gallo said...

True enough, Patrick and Pablo! :-) i was great friends with hyper-neat Jeff Dreyfuss and despite all my protests that I was perfectly happy in my space, I would often go sit in his office to clear my head and decompress.

Hey John -- Happy Holidays! Well, I got a bigger office since you left. The mess is more spread out.

I actually did throw away TONS of stuff this evening, right after that photo was taken. Sadly, it doesn't look much better yet. The worst of it is always within arms reach of my chair...To the point that, if I am missing anything I need to sit down to get the right perspective on the room.

tlchang said...

I think it must be a universal creative thing... Offices, studios - they all have incredibly familiar look, especially mid-project.

I like that quote "An immaculate emaculate house(office/studio) is the sign of a misspent life."

Yup!

cmalidore said...

You mean they're not supposed to look like that? Aw crap....

I get into this bi-annual clean thing I do, but for the most part my desk and area is crammed full of stuff. I actually find it keeps me inspired to have art all around and supplies and what not, makes it feel homely.... of course I can't find anything when I need to.... Oh well.

Arkady Roytman said...

it's not THAT bad. I can still see the floor.

Unknown said...

I think it's beautiful!!

My studio looked like that for a long time, but with the help of a few sales and some cheap furniture from Ikea I was able to get it organized. I still make stacks, but I do try to sort them from time to time.

As much as it felt counter to my creative nature, I actually got a lot of benefit from David Allen's Getting Things Done. For me it was a great way to get focused on the work I needed to do by getting those piles tucked neatly away with confidence that I knew where things went and what still needed to be done. I was able to focus on a painting or drawing by getting the piles out of sight. Otherwise, I would find myself sitting at the easel but looking past the canvas at a pile of sketches for something else and being distracted by thoughts of how I really needed to be working on that, too. I’m not sure if you’d get the same benefit from the book, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Regardless of how you achieve it, I agree with what you said - a clean space is a great place to decompress.

Still, since it's not MY office, for me it seems like an exciting proposition to dig through the treasures that must be hiding in your office!

Best wishes for keeping it clean and creating a haven of clarity!

mcahogarth said...

So many colors...

Robert Hunt said...

Don't clean it up...it's meant to be this way.

Tristan Elwell said...

Do you have any pics of your old office? At least this one has room for two!

Anonymous said...

So many beautiful works !!! WOAW
Corbeau

Anonymous said...

"One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries." --Milne

Sarah

Korsaktion said...

The only advice I have is what I learned at cafateria at West Point. There were signs postd all over the kitchen that said. "Clean As You Go". I guess it kind of stuck for me.

I do have some ideas though. First off, get those paintings off the floor. Clear a wall just for incoming art. Put a few small shelves up so you a can lean incoming art on it.

And throw out anything you haven't touched in 6 months.

Mark

Irene Gallo said...

Hey Mark!

Well, I should say ('cause I got a few emails about it too) that the _only_ reason the paintings are on the floor is because I put in a 30 gallon fish tank. (Just out of frame in those pictures.) I didn't want the paintings to soak in any evaporating water. Phase two of the great biennale clean-up will be to re-hang all the paintings. It'll have to be salon-stlye, I'm afraid.

Dale Stephanos said...

Irene, I see it more as a 3D collage than a mess.
As long as you can find your chair, your phone, and your coffee, it's not too messy.
Dale

francis tsai said...

WOW it looks like you were robbed or something! :D

Anonymous said...

What a light weight! That's nothing, you should see mine! (I dare not post a picture...)
Matt

jonnyspace said...

That's funny!