“Death” photo series includes introductory and closing quotes by Virginia Woolf about a death of a moth, and “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:26)

Death comes in sizes. I try to bring death to life, to bring death to the surface when we’d rather just walk past it or even neglect that it even happens. You won’t see this kind of passing away at a mortuary or in a newspaper. If you stop for a second, you might see it in places you visit everyday, or directly under your feet.

I take a different approach to creativity. Much has already been done; the best form of doing seems to be undoing. Creativity, from my view, is the skill of destroying dominant relations of conditioned perceptual connections and instinctive concepts. I celebrate the unnoticed, insignificant qualities of experience and logic. To thoughtfully extend notions about life, I remain comforted by things commonly considered abnormal.

There is no such thing as finished, only divinely incomplete. Evading explicit understanding involves a deeper involvement in discovery. Confusion is rewarding when insight is found independently.

The achieved objective was to create a fancy program for the 50th year anniversary. The end result mixes existing branding of color and logo, but also composes the program in such a way that was worth keeping as a keepsake for attendees to remember the event. The interior pages honored the passing Kirby Lockard and highlighted giclee prints of architectural paintings that were being sold.

First and last pages are covers and the rest are spreads.

Beware of Signage is a four-part mini-series of signs. Using self-made signs and photography, I produced temporarily public commentary with the posting of mimicked public information signs. Text in the standardized arrangement of signage has a connotation of authority. Presenting the blatant or the unexpected paired into an environment evokes a paradoxical and enriched connotation.

Temporary signs included but were not limited to: “This Is Not an Exit; This Is Not an Approved Fire Escape” “Parking Zone; Watched for Stopped Vehicles,” and “This Is Not a Parking Space.” I call this a form of legal graffiti. No objects, building, or neighborhoods were defaced or destroyed in the making of this project.

Showcased are the covers, foldout view, and final interiors.

This a book, approximately 4″ x 6″ that I dreamed and built. I stitched it, made a custom watermelon-print cover around book board, and illustrated the inside. The idea comes from my inspiration: Richard Brautigan’s “In Watermelon Sugar.” The story explains that everyday the sun is a new color, and when you plant a watermelon seed on on a grey day with grey sunshine, a grey watermelon will emerge.

The inside is set up as part-calendar and part planting. The days poke out of the inset pages, and a color sequence of pages are seen with various thickness and transparencies. To demonstrate the end result, watch the video.

And my portfolio entries will soon follow the format below.

Title:
Date: 2010
Medium:
Size:

I was about to do the something similar and had the phone number strips idea being blank, but never got that far. Glad to see people do this in real life and that it has already spread! Let the free stripping begin…

windshield into action campaign

1. faux ticket with sleeve(windshield to website)

Content of ticket:
Thank you for obeying all parking laws [made possible by the Tucson Kindness Enforcement]
Your normal driving activities have been acknowledged and appreciated.

www.ekloff.com/kindness

website text: “Design should be kind”

2. Formal invitation/Envelope response card SASE

(placed on bikes, cars, abandoned strollers) addressed to my home, possible link to ekloff.com/windshield
You are cordially invited to travel on the public streets of Tucson. The public streets of Tucson are open 24 hours a day, and can be used for transportation purposes or even leisurely joyrides. Legally, all you need is your driver’s license, proof of insurance, and vehicle registration–then you are eligible to drive wherever you wish, so long as you have enough gasoline. Take this opportunity to let us know you will attend the street at some point in the future.

_ I will travel
_ I regret to decline
_ other (my car is broken, I remain permanently parked, I don’t know how to drive)

(sponsored by the Information Design Study by ekloff.com. No personal information is collected)
(codify a number on the response card and note where inserted)

Photo-Manipulation Buildings Series

1. “room service please” on dirty office doors
2. “this is not an exit” on unexpected openings such as A/C vents, mailbox slot, toilet stalls
3. “No Trespassing” inside gutters, small pathways
4. “Found” fliers of lost litter or a house that has too much shrubbery obstructing its view

“Designated graffiti Area” sprawled on a wall is a perfect example of intervening in urbania. Another brilliant idea is to designate picnic areas as seen in this Banksy tag by some garbage bags on the street. Or when “what are you looking at?” is written in front of a security camera.