Special Thanks to Azriel for bringing this to my attention.

Helllllloooooooo…….Out….Thhheerrreeee…
OK, since this post has been up a few days there is not as much an echo as I expected. But I decided to sort of reprise it so I can get more responses and work on another project. Since this blog thang is supposed to have an interactive aspect, I am casting a line out to you. Once upon a time I was interviewed by a magazine called Pulse, it was a publication of the defunct music retail giant Tower Records. But they did a wonderful series with the same title as this blog entry. So, if you were stuck on a desert island somewhere and could only bring three recordings which would they be? There are no limitations to genre whatsoever.

In the spirit of both my upcoming column (+/-), and Desert Island Discs which refers to the long-running popular UK radio broadcast. For starters here are mine:

1.) Billie Holiday’s Lady in Satin (1958)
2.) Nurse With Wound’s Soliloquy for Lilith (1988)
3.) Brian Eno’s Music for Airports (1978)

Alternates:
Pet Shop Boy’s Behaviour (1990)
Laurie Anderson’s Big Science (1982)

And yours?…..

Shake A Stick At It

Is Portland all about cultural tourism, or what? There is a cacophony of show spaces these days. So many new galleries, cafes and art spaces constantly popping up, in flux, or otherwise re-branding their image. Some things never change, but change is supposedly good, right?

This examination of art space, it’s a rich trend. Many come and go within a year or so, some have staying power, some folks invest in their own real estate, others rent on a whim, others have legitimate start-ups that run on the skins of their teeth. One thing is clear through it all, the impetus is there, whether people show up or not. One example was going out last night to see Jim Haynes perform at the Portland Art Center. Sure, it was hot and the brewfest was sizzling along the river, and The Simpsons Movie was premiering, but where were the bodies, the ears that focus on the sounds of the underground? This guy came up from San Francisco to perform, and I showed up…well, after a while a small group of say six or seven others did too, but this was almost 45 minutes to an hour after the show was supposed to start. No excuses people, it simply bummed me out. I ended up darting for the theater to take in those wacky yellow animated folk from Springfield, ______. (a guilty pleasure which turned out to be a solid 97 minute long episode w/cultural spoofs aplenty)

In my dash ’round town this weekend I managed to stop by Newspace Center for Photography’s annual national juried show Among Us and Curious, with Professor of Photographic Arts at the College of Santa Fe, Darius Himes, aptly at the curatorial helm this time around. A good blend of contemporary documentary-style work and abstraction. Light and color, dimension and awkward senses of place and space. After selecting 32 photographers (only four from Oregon) from over 2000 images, Himes’ choices for top prizes were apt for what’s cogent in the field right now. He selected Alex Emmons (2nd prize) who I showed with at the Boise Visual Arts Center earlier this year. The show has a flow. Standouts here were Nicole Jean Hill and Brad Moore.

My criticism is the ongoing trend of photographers signing the front of traditionally matted work, what is up with that? It’s an eyesore, not a pet peeve (try the verso). The whole signature thing wreaks of autograph hound superstar, and just doesn’t fit for 99.9% of all contemporary art. A signature is a modernist branding motif. Motherwell and Warhol are rumbling in their graves, and the rest of us have to deal with the quake of it all.

Also in the weekend mix were trips to see shows at 12×16 Gallery, Small A and a new well-situated space in NoPo called Rererato (once a Hare Krishna Temple on NE 42nd Avenue - I met the lady who used to live there, she provided the much needed dummies for my Time to Kill project back in ‘04). At this new space, joining Rock’s Box (he has Keith Boadwee in September!) on the top left hand side of Burnside, two New Jerseyites opened shop and a show called Zzzzz…(Between The Sheets), which also includes regularly scheduled live performances. A few works seem scattered on the edges of this former sacred space including prints by Marc Manning, a spinning turntable light installation (re-enacting Gysin’s Dreamachine), a floor-based balloon sculpture and a bed covered in torn newspapers - a whole lot of mixed media. It’s an apt playful space in harmony with most of the neighboring Alberta Arts District.

Over these past weeks I have afforded the expense of time in the studio, been a bit of a spendthrift in fact, working on these new drip/tear experiments. Never stopping a moment to ask in third person, what are you doing? Just full steam ahead on a new, unfounded track. There’s something bold to me about the modalities of choice and chance that gets built into the process. It’s a bit freeing, yet I can still drive the bus.

I have been inspired lately (and blessed) by some of my fellow artists who have been by (Abi Spring, David Eckard, Bryan Schellinger, Christopher Brown, Rachel Denny) and also by the prospect of recent regional opportunities and goings-on (and once again stumbling upon “The Medium Is The Message“). I have emerged from the other end, invigorated to (re)align myself in the studio. Finding time to break from the frenetic tension of improvisational inspiration is essential. A quiet (white) space that helps me rationalize that expressionism is only physical without the breathing that goes into it. Perhaps it’s the breathing itself that is squirming into the work when I stop reacting to a surface or empty space. Mark making can be so overwhelming, like a fine-tuned choreography where everything plays off each other in space. Yeah, I see two-dimensional surfaces dancing in that paradigm sometimes. The way a succession of lines creates resonance and atonalities. These can often appear stunted, not always in harmony, but by nature of relationships offer a composition, perhaps deconstructed in my process. Certainly not for everyone, especially when in-progress. But it’s truly in the moment, when you are making something that it is live. This is the capture of time, the split second when a spill, or drip or mark is made.

Yesterday I spent a few quality hours with Ruth Ann Brown walking, talking, through galleries and over lunch and back into the studio. We talked about the deep sense of finding voice in ones work. Beyond the end results, bullet points and general script of the business of art…perhaps what we talked about was the art of the business of art: the psychoanalytical connection between the maker and the audience. It was refreshing to sort out loud why the love of the process rides the same rails as the impetus for getting from blank to object/image. Of course, in terms of the senses, I have often leaned a bit in the direction of art for the head (dada, minimalism, concepts) rather than the eyes, but when I do make something that upends visual discovery, of potential beauty, I question it before I make peace or sense of it. It was great to have the opportunity to let that out in the open.

CONTEMPORARY
NORTHWEST
ART
AWARDS

259 Nominations
28 Finalists

I am very excited about several of those selected. A few are friends, a few I have worked with, curated or otherwise am a fan. Some are true surprises to me. While there are a few in this list that probably have made it this far based on reputation and relationships, and others that are surprisingly, obviously missing. A large handful of unrecognized names, and a few that will twist your horizons around perception of where their studio practice lies. Note the repeats from the last round of the Oregon Biennial, and some safe choices. Some names get tossed into the ring every time an opportunity like this comes up, the making of a vanguard so to speak. It will be great to see the next, post-studio visit round.

16 from Washington
11 from Oregon
1 from Montana
0 from Idaho/Wyoming

And…..The Nominees Are…..
Daniel Attoe, Gretchen Bennett, Joshua Berger, Buddy Bunting, Cat Clifford, Judy Cooke, Claire Cowie, Marc Dombrosky, Ellen Garvens, Jesse Hayward, Mary Henry, Fay Jones, Michael Knutson, James Lavadour, Margie Livingston, D.E. May, Jeffry Mitchell, Seth Nehil, Richard Notkin (the museum has one of his in the Jubitz Center), Geraldine Ondrizek, Joseph Park, Akio Takamori, Whiting Tennis, Storm Tharp, Oscar Tuazon, Laura Vandenburg, Marie Watt and Robert Yoder (links are to those I haven’t yet been exposed).

Portland Art Museum Stats:

About the Nominees
Idaho (19), Montana (18), Oregon (101), Washington (115), Wyoming (6)

About the Finalists: 11 women; 17 men

Jennifer A. Gately, the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Curator of Northwest Art, and guest curatorial advisor James Rondeau, Curator and Frances and Thomas Dittmer Chair of the Department of Contemporary Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, reviewed the nominees’ materials and selected the finalists.

“This lengthy and thought-provoking process offered an exciting opportunity to see a broad cross section of the artistic concerns and rich diversity of expression found in the region. Certainly the 28 finalists are representative of this breadth, with their variety of formal, political, and cultural concerns represented in a variety of media including painting, photography, drawing, graphic design, sound, sculpture, clay, assemblage, and installation-based works,” said Gately. “The overall professional competency and high level of accomplishment we observed is a great affirmation of the growing community of artists that are choosing to live and work in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.”

Well, as one of the 231 (101 from the Oregon shortlist!) who didn’t make this cut at least I can say ‘it was an honor to be nominated‘.

PS: Putting the contemporary back into the process, PDX Contemporary puts a handful of their artists (5) on the docket here. Some missing names: Susan Robb, David Eckard, Joe Thurston, Wes Mills, Jaq Chartier, Michael Brophy, Tivon Rice, Brian Murphy, Sean Healy, Pat Boas, Victoria Haven, Harrell Fletcher, Cris Bruch…oh there’s a handful. But curatorial mastering is about editing, so the next stage will be quite exciting.

Dear Adri -

It’s amazing that you are twenty this week. When you were born I was still in college, and your great grandmother was still with us, she was such an influence on my life. We were so proud to have you in our lives, and I lived with you as a baby for the first few years (like Greg Brady in the attic). It was an interesting time, we had the spectrum of four generations. Who woulda thought that you would first of all read, let alone actually respond to my blog. Without resorting to sounding like the doting uncle, I have mentioned you somewhere in my journals here and thereabouts before, probably a few times. I guess I knew it early on, that you were the creative family link to the future. My mom the chef extraordinaire, I make things and you communicate! Over the years I have watched your wonderment at gadgets like cameras and your penchant to use your voice, your radio broadcasting, the whole lot. Yeah, you pegged me for sure. I am hopelessly devoted to the practice of working in the studio right now. Moreso than ever before.

I’m so proud that you were able to make it through your college studies and now, you are most certainly embarking on a new adventure. Costa Rica! That is amazing, and I have a good friend (Abe) who has been there very many times. I remember he collected hand painted, carved wood masks, and would talk about staying awake in twilight, in the rain forest, watching turtles hatch. Sounds like one of those movies with special effects when I think about it. From my perspective it seems like a colorful place. But please tell me more about what you perceive to find in your travels. This is an exciting time for you, and I encourage you to focus on the opportunities to learn about other cultures. I’m sure this is a big change over growing up in a midburb like Everett (did you know there is even a film about the place we all sorta grew up?).

So, I also heard that not too long ago you had moved out to the south shore of Massachusetts. To Hull…is that true? I remember visiting that neck of the woods many moons ago, but could never really make out what its innards were all about - I do remember some cliffs though. And the water of course, is’t it like a lil’ island almost? Is there someone in your life that helped prompt the move? And now with your radio experience, not to mention a new one year old sister (she’s quite sweet) I am sure you have many questions about the universe. After all you are now as they say, a young woman, no longer a teenager (such a gawky time I am sure). I always wonder if you manage to see your dad (another creative soul).

I will leave this an open letter, unless you decide to address my questions out there in waiting. But in the meantime, know that I am always there with you, in that spirit of curiosity of what is beyond the immediate.

With lots of love, T.

The past few days and nights, into the next few months have and will all be balanced with unusual treatments. These include friends and family who are travelling (and/or moving to exotic locations), selling new work right out of the studio (oh, and a large part of my music collection too), various and sundry sordid relationship shifts (not me, Alice), promised magazine appearences, a few collaborations and a stage performance (!). Life will be surrounded by constant change, exhibitions, potential New York/New England excursions (maybe to see the Vermont foliage?), perhaps a Mediterranean cruise, more movies, art work reversals and trade/exchanges….oh, yes, a new music column that’s supposed to be released in a few weeks. Life’s endless, bottomless, infinite. As I sit here listening to dusty Heaven 17 tracks I look into the future and its easy to predict a very different tomorrow. The dust will settle again in short order, just to be stirred up all over again. Keeps you on your toes, breathless. So, yes, I may appear (in tba), and I may not be curating a show in December as planned. But there will always be something, even if it’s not in range, out of sight, there is always some thing.

I accidentally came upon a new blog which unlocks the symbology of logos and emblems in popular music. For anyone who grew up with record album cover art and then had to endure the miniaturization to CDs and cassettes, and now only in digital form, you may find this exploration worth your time. Underground culture enthusiast David Cotner’s Brand Upon The Brain is to the task.

[ SPLIT @ GIRTH ]

This weekend was actually quite fun, in between the mix of studio time (the work is actively flowing). First a gaggle of us joined the Portland Movie of the Week group for the romp Hairspray. As a BIG fan of the original John Waters film (1988) I wasn’t quite sure how this would compare…but continuing in the trend of making a stage play that was derived from a film back into a film again - this one turns out quite well. Why does Hollywood do this? Of course it is much cleaned up from the original grittiness of the Waters film, though the original film itself was one of his most squeaky clean set of his reels. It was also the final film to feature the beloved Divine (a libra), who was now cast with John Travolta. Though I thought he would make a complete mockery of the wonderfully larger-than-life Edna Turnblad (a role also formerly coveted by Bruce Vilanch and Harvey Fierstein), he played the character slightly close to the original with a few new zingers (and some signatures to his own past film moments). But he seemed unnatural in the fat suit, his face looked a bit piggish. When Edna ends up on the dancefloor the role loosens up a bit. The scenes with her husband, played by Presidential nominee wannabe Christopher Walken, can’t be saved, however, as this has to be his stiffest role to date. The chemistry between the two (unlike between Divine and Sony Bono - what’s with politico/character actors? Oh, wait, that was Jerry Stiller, who played Mr. Pinky here - the only actor in both films playing full roles) was nil.

There’s a quick and awesome lil’ cameo by Waters himself and also an almost unnoticeable walk-on by Rikki Lake. The soundtrack is completely updated, scrapped from the ‘88 version which was a cherishable mix including many of the actual songs from the original 60’s era, but sticks closer to the stage production including a few catchy tracks and a strong performance by Queen Latifah as Motormouth Maybelle. I have to say I really miss Rachel Sweet’s title track! It all may seem quite colorful, though contains some uncharacteristic for our times (even if portraying another) collection of awkward racial moments, it would make a great drive-in feature for the whole kit n’ kaboodle.

Speaking of family fun: Yesterday was a day at the park, Oaks Park. In my first visit to Portland’s answer to old world amusement faire I was enjoying myself in short order. It was a picnic that Paul through together including a big potluck, about 70 people or so, and plenty of sweet food and fun rides. The funniest of these has to be the Lewis & Clark ride. It was like going through one of those seriously non-scary, forty-year old clackety adventures, room after room, of 1/2 lit things that sort of spring or jump out at you. These animals and human cartoons sort of just languidly move an inch or two. There was this native american figure with its head turned completely backwards…was that Sacajawea impersonating Linda Blair? The aged fun park, right off the Willamette really has a romance about it, and drew quite a hefty crowd on this Summer day. Recently Jim Lommasson showed me some really strong photos he shot there many years back when they had these old carny paintings about the grounds. If you are lucky to see these, they capture the long tradition of the quirky signature that carry histories of such places.

After a fun stint of bumper cars (I got the defective car that went in the opposite direction, causing many jams and crashes) we headed for The Scream-N-Eagle (the site says: “It’s just too scary to talk about. You will have to see it yourself. But just imagine 5.1 g’s of force against your body!!!”). All three of us felt a bit imbalanced after riding. Paul and Dan waited in line a while for The Rock-0-Plane and didn’t report that great o’ time upon dismount. Then all of us darted for The Thunder! I think the repetitious menacing voiceover that kept saying it was an “aggressive and……ride” was scarier than the actual loop. It wasn’t 1/2 bad, which means it wasn’t 1/2 good. One of the whipping turns crashes your head (my ear) into the side bar (yes it is padded), but it was just a minor injury.

After one more neopolitan ice cream sandwich bar…the heat, the spills and thrills, all the weightlessness (the Oreos must have floated towards my brain during those 5+ G’s) compounded the sugar into my personal oblivion. It was home to rest, which turned into nearly twelve hours of shuteye!

Pornography is making a comeback, or at least it is here in Portland. Well, it never really left town, but it’s finding passage into our galleries. Sure, Stumptown is infamous for places with tantalizing names like Sassys, Jiggles, Steam and Fantasy, its many purveyors pedaling peeps and pasties. Some people call our fair Northwest city ‘the capital of porn’. Imagine for a moment, this magical transference in the sheen of glossy centerfolds to the surface of Arches and combined with oil on linen…..

BODY OF WORK
Taboos are being busted wide open. In the coming months there will be a smattering of work by individuals who wryly, conceptually delve into the skinny of it all. Watch for shows at Elizabeth Leach and New American Art Union that touch on the subject, and pop into Chambers for current work on view by Philip Iosca whose Holy Glory employs various porn references in his new work. Yesterday a friend of mine mentioned that he and a young friend of his went to the opening and she viewed his pinup wall grid as a ‘gay advent calendar’ which I thought was an absolutely hysterical take on the work. Iosca has taken a grouping of actual magazine pages, mostly from 70s or 80s gay porn and collaged atop perforated postcards that reference glory holes, at the point where the ‘naughty bits’ might be censored. And while this approach may seem slight to some, it appeals to different folks on different grounds.

He has also crudely created ‘ejaculation drawings’ which are just that, complete with foot (or knee) crinkles on the surface of the paper. He has decided to adorn his resulting organic design with tar-like black glitter which adheres to spunky abstractions. The work will certainly provoke some, and reminds me of very similar practices I exersized from my subconscious many moons ago while socially retrofitting my sexual identity. The work speaks from the perception of a young guy with more than a simple, passing fancy about the public perception of private parts, as he’s been making these thematic correlations for a few years now (Iosca is a twentysomething graduate of RISD). He speaks his (version of the) truth through pictures and props - the upright plexi glory hole/guillotine piece with its cotton-candy pink coated crowbars speaks volumes about fear and loathing in the ‘post-AIDS’ 21st Century.

The glory hole is nothing new to the art realm and has certainly created a raised eyebrow or two or a unibrow, or a quad over the years. If this is your cup of tea (pun intended), you may be interested in this eleven year old fascinating ArtNet piece by Elisabeth Kley. In this review of Simon Leung’s work she makes apropos remarks about both Duchamp and Robert Gober.

Of course, the whole thought of a glory hole also plays on the entire visual compass, the act of the gaze, pinhole photography, perfect symmetry, as well as the opportunism of the voyeur.

• • •
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Currently I am working on two simultaneous and unrelated projects in the studio. Funny, as a photographer I am rarely photographed, and never without even knowing…talk about shooting from the hip(s)! As a result of my yet unnamed grouping of body images, I have appeared in Mother Popper. I am still seeking additional bodies (through mid August only). If you are interested in involving yourself, or have a friend(s) that may be applicable (expectants and beer bellies apply within), please ring my bell.

DESTINATION :: PORTLAND
In the many splendored ways we live here in our gracious lil’ enclave of a town that just keeps growing more rapidly I get a big kick out of stories like this. CNN noticed our quaint cafe culture and all that good stuff in a recent feature. Everytime I see Voodoo Donuts mentioned in one of these citywide exposés I can’t help but smile. How could you possibly divorce those 3AM late nights with pink-fro’d gals in midriffs toting around their puking long-haired, skinny-as-a-rail punky boyfriends into this haus of sugar-poweredness (or is that powdered prowess?). Personally, I don’t touch the stuff, but for some, maple-glazed fried dough decorated in Lucky Charms seems just the stuff. Anyhow, let them rave on all they want - it just makes Portland the continued destination to keep weird.

The Oregonian’s D.K. Row did a nice piece on the DeSoto Project for tomorrow’s paper, which you can get your early dibs in on here. After yesterday’s sneak preview I certainly agree with him to a large extent, though his piece was a bit of a new history lesson in the business of the arts in contemporary Portland. Dually noting the ‘old guard’ he was remiss to mention newer daring galleries like Small A, Quality Pictures, and New American Art Union - one of the most recent additions to PADA. Ruth Ann Brown, like many in this brand new project, also owns her own building. She was one of the very first in Portland stepping to the plate to do so, (3+ years ago), in a new, yet unestablished Southeast Arts District in its infancy at the time. An estimatable example in the investment and committment to the speculative potential of the art market. The public has grown beyond basic curiosity of what a 1st Thursday art walk might provide, and taking extra steps is always important to building a collection. The concept of “one-stop shopping” will not be the lure of this new downtown venture, nor will it be anything but tenacity. The convenience of the Pearl district will be thinner than the finest handmade Japanese paper if that were the tact of the community and its growing patrons coming from the hills and outside the UGB. Yes, a destination, for sure, but art connosieurs surely know that an address has its price. They don’t call most of the buildings right in the square mile radius ‘lofts’ for no reason. And I am not talking lofty in terms of ideas. Though, far and wide, knowing most of these dealers - they will assuredly put their money where their mouth is. That’s actually gotta be one of the stupidist lines ever when you read it aloud.

In the piece Row mentions the neighboring Everett Station Lofts as both ’scrappy’ and ‘conceptual’ and Alberta Street’s Last Thursday as a rowdy outdoor festival. And while again I can see his view, and someone has to take a stance in these truisms, it is just this variant of diversity that makes our art world breathe. Portland, the great cultural incubator, if without its DIYr’s would have dried up years ago, and may have been dominated by the ‘vapid’ Thomas Kinkade-like large showroom galleries focused on matching big bobbly art with your paint chips and fabric samples (oh, don’t get me started). The spirit of these younger courageous creatives, to stay in a city limits when the cost of living has increased fairly, may not allow for the continuance of domination over the wacky, wonderful scene here as we have (by choice or word of mouth) engaged over the last handful of years. But hopefully we can all inform each other. And I don’t mean in a sophomoric, filtered and watered-down “everything is fine” sorta way. For that - crack open The Artist’s Way if you want to get in touch with your inner “art heart”. The city’s mantra has been acceptance of many modalities, good, bad and indifferent. It has given an edge to everything from the work we see, to the sharper collectors to the critical stance on what wares are exchanged herein. The creative spirit is flexible, saleable, impractical, under/overpriced and ever-morphing.

Mind you, most of the hippy-dippy Saturday Market aesthetic, the tie dye hackie-sack people of yore are drifting into yesterday. Enough nag champa already! Though its that part of the pulse that helped build the attitude we now live in - a free sensability, uncensored. Though, in walks the metrosexual, the six-digit faring, SUV baring, Diesel-wearing eschelons of varying tastes. This city most certainly provides for all. Though, the offspring of many parents of the generation of psychedelia are inching up the coast and into our backyards. It widens the scope for creative potential, while the gentrification sets in more widely than ever before…but in the longterm, are most creative artists going to be relegated to the edges of the city into aspiring projects like Milepost 5? Though I am excited about this sort of venture, there are already exponential Starbucks’, huh? Change induces fear, concern, confusion, excitement - all at once. Ok, end rant.

I’ll have what she’s having.

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I’m bonified, tongue tied, non-blonde. Ohhhh, I’m with stupid….. Shot in the fatal cause of rock n’ roll…. Straight into my head, through my ears. My nerves are quaking, the earth is shaking, everytime our thoughts collide. In the air…. I think I’m in love.

At first, after another lonnnnggg day at the studio (no complaints), I fretted facing the old iBook, but what drove me here was the thought about writing a blog entry that would be totally encoded with a whole lotta mash-ups: between (in)famous quotes and literature, pop music and contemporary phraseology. To smoosh in, of course, a whole waft of non-sequitors and the taboos of dada. But I guess I will suffice to say something simply about Wednesday. Yeah, I missed the fun over at Holocene last night - but in my special way this nod celebrates with the wonderful folks from PICA on their twelfth b-day (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!). As well PAC who deserves ongoing kudos for continuing to carry on with good programming, having hosted John Mace’s lecture which I am sure was absolutely entertaining by a smart and funny guy who makes serious work.

“There’s a lot of opportunities. If they’re odd you can make them, make or break them…” (Tennant/Lowe)

Earlier today I spent my morning touring the soon-to-open (THIS SUNDAY!) DeSoto Building sandwiched ‘tween the North Park Blocks and Broadway. A lovely site indeed, outside in. The folks here will now own their show spaces outright. So, real estate is the key here, to many who have rented their own spaces a long time. Shows a new committment to the profession.

First, inside the newly refurbished and renamed Museum of Contemporary Craft where Director David Cohen led an intro discussion about the entire project. It was a great moment to sit in their Project Room as it was the first time it has been physically open to anyone. The room was filled with some very key people in the arts in our community. Speaking were Jim Winkler, Jesse Beeson (from Sam Adam’s office), Eloise Damrosch, Bob Kochs (who made the nod to the history of William Jamison), Charles Hartman and Christopher Rauchenberg. Charles Froelick shared some very eloquent words about showing artists in the right light, and redesigning a space that’s respectful of all the people in the process, from artist to collector.

And that proved true upon first walking through all of these new, very light, lit, freshly painted open spaces. You won’t believe your eyes when you see Blue Sky’s facelift, oh my! It’s a show place. Sure, folks will have grande memories of the old creaky floored space going through that door you never knew to push or pull (though clearly marked). I spoke with Rauschenberg about the fact that it’s been transformed from an old fashioned space into a top-tier quality space that will really give them much more opportunity to present over the top exhibitions. It’s suddenly a very West Coast gallery, but knowing some of the folks behind the scenes, they will keep it real with contiuing their important mission to present international photography of many tongues. He showed me the new flat files and I think I gasped…it’s pretty damned fabulous. Oh, and the adjunct Nine Gallery now has lower ceilings, but is pretty much the same square footprint, and is nicely air conditioned!

Augen is sprawling and it was nice to be greeted by a sexy Chuck Close self portrait when I walked in…not to mention the Picasso’s turning out Kochs’ office in the back, he mentioned that his furniture should arrive any day now (custom takes longer). Big capital D-luxe. They had one each of Matthew Cosby and Eva Lake’s works hanging for the opening. This will provide Augen with a sort of uptown/downtown location scheme as they are keeping their current space as well.

David Cohen noted to me that there is now I think 3500SF of exhibition space, and that though the Museum will be member-driven, it will be FREE to the public. That is impressive and a wonderful service to the city!

Froelick Gallery has to be the most amazing transformation of all. I just LOVE the new space, the way it moves. Froelick mentioned how important it was to design his own space, and from the outset it looks like they got soup to nuts (and blots). It’s classy and something of a cross between a high-end retail shop and a light space with many more twists and turns than prior (and the offices are sharply outfitted too). And they had some wonderfully undulating ink/pencil “Logarithm Studies” by Sally Finch towards the back. There were also two brown/white paper pieces towards the desk with floating ovals and small shapes that was immediately captivating for those of us who like more intimate work (sorry I don’t know the artist’s name). I’m excited for these guys.

The newest space in Portland focuses on some very classic photography. Charles A. Hartman Fine Art, check out the names on this roster. The space is perfectly sized as a medium-sized atelier, tall ceilings, reminiscent of its owner. Having moved his business from San Francisco, and representing powerhouse artists like Ruth Bernard, Harry Callahan, Paul Caponigro and Nick Nixon (one of my former advisors), plan to see plenty lush work in black/white with a maximum prism of all the shades of grey scale in between.

• • •

But, as for me, hmm, er, zzzzz, zttt, zzztt, zzzzz. Oh I guess that’s just my circuitry saying chill big boy.

Facing the brighter shade of white paper again and again.
The remainder of the day was spent in the studio (above is the only hint of an excerpt that I can share until I’m ready to come out more publicly). Of all things, I am continuing a series of ink works on paper….I’m covered in color and loving it. This reminds me of my last series I did back in ‘00/01 - which are long sold out. I’ve got a dozen in mind and think I may be done with nine of them at this point. Some big news in the making, slow-brew style, I have a NY gallery interested in seeing my work!!! I haven’t shopped for art supplies as much as I have in the past few weeks ever. Those discount cards come in handy after your fifth trip or so….I will say that it doesn’t feel just like some off-handed formal intersection for me, but it could be construed as possession. But by whom?

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London-based Joe Simon-Whelan, an American filmmaker, is heading a new class-action suit against the Andy Warhol Foundation and others by claiming a bit of conspiracy on prices and profits of their own collection. Simon-Whelan says the authentication board refuses to legitimize Warhols owned by some private collectors in order to inflate the intrinsic value of its own assets.

Evidentally after attempting to have a Warhol he owns authenticated, Simon-Whelan was denied twice, though the piece bears a note by the deceased executor of the estate Fred Hughes. The note reads “I certify that this is an original painting by Andy Warhol completed by him in 1964.” Simon-Whelan also has a letter from Warhol factory photographer Billy Name, verifying the work’s authenticity.

In 1989 Simon-Whelan purchased the work in question for $195,000 and had hoped to sell it for $2 million, but couldn’t without the authentication board’s endorsement: “The legal action estimates the foundation has sold more than $150m of Warhol’s work at inflated prices, and calls for $20m in compensation on behalf of Simon-Whelan and other unnamed alleged victims.” Vincent Fremont, head of sales at the Warhol estate, has dismissed Simon-Whelan’s claims as “shocking nonsense”.

Is this a genuine Warhol? [The Guardian]

Warhol Foundation Accused of Dominating the Market
[New York Times]

SEATTLE :: CRAWL SPACE

Call For Artists!
First-Annual Studio Intensive Residency

In an effort to challenge early career artists in the power and scope of their art making, Crawl Space announces its new Studio Intensive Residency, during which the resident artist will be confined to the grounds for one week to prepare an exhibition. The resident artist will commit to a full seven days and seven nights of working at Crawl Space. Arriving at the gallery with whatever art-making and survival supplies he or she brings along, the artist will establish a studio workspace and squatting quarters for the week. A hot plate, refrigerator, toilet, sink, and sleeping cot will be
provided.

During this week of confinement, the artist is expected to generate completely new works, either as a continuation of a body of work or as a special project or installation. No completed or in-progress works will be admitted. Crawl Space hopes that confining the artist to an unfamiliar and entirely un-recreational art making space where he/she cannot get away from his/her work will spur that artist to break away from characteristic approaches and methods of art making. Work completed during the lock-in will be installed for exhibition at the end of the following week. The resident artist will receive a $500 honorarium. The exhibition will be on view for a three-week period thereafter.

Crawl Space is a nonprofit artist-run exhibition space dedicated to cultivating innovative artwork by emerging artists. Since opening our doors in 2003, Crawl Space has presented new works by more than 150 artists, at no charge to a public audience of over 4,000. The Allied Arts Foundation provides our 501(c)3 identification.

The Studio Intensive Residency is not for the faint of heart! The Crawl Space crew will be on call in case of emergency food and supply delivery. Daily meals will be provided by local businesses. The resident artist must be able to commit a full week (7 consecutive days and nights) to working and squatting on Crawl Space grounds, between September 18th and 24th. Please submit proposals for participation under the following guidelines:

1. On CD or DVD: 10-20 digital images of recent work

2. Printed:
- proposed use of time during residency lock-in
and how you hope to impact your work
- artist resume and statement
- work sample description

3. $10 application fee (made payable to Crawl Space)

POSTMARK DEADLINE: 4 August 2007
Mail all submissions to:
Crawl Space
Studio Intensive Residency
504 E Denny Way #1
Seattle, WA 98122
206-201-2441
info@crawlspacegallery.com

NEW YORK :: ISSUE PROJECT ROOM

SEEKING A HOME
A Letter from the Artistic Director

“I am writing to you today to ask your help in establishing a permanent home for ISSUE Project Room. In its brief history, ISSUE Project Room, has become one of the most respected art and performance spaces in New York City. Programs like Theremin Society, Points in a Circle, The Independents, and Littoral, have earned us a reputation of presenting new and artistically challenging work. Our programming is our greatest strength.

After two years of performances in its silo on the Gowanus Canal, ISSUE is ready to move to larger, centrally-located permanent home. To successfully undertake such a move, ISSUE’s board has recently announced a $350,000 capital campaign. I am asking for your support! I want to stress the urgency of my request, with the hope that you will write a check or make an online donation as soon as you receive this letter. The urgency stems from a unique and wonderful opportunity for ISSUE to move into a new, rent-free space in one of the most beautiful buildings in downtown Brooklyn. ISSUE is one of two finalists for this architecturally significant property, but it must demonstrate the financial capability to develop the space if it isto secure the lease.

To meet this goal we are raising money by several means: donor solicitations, grant requests and fundraising benefits. To kick off the campaign, there will be a drive to meet a generous $25,000 matching grant made by an anonymous donor. In support of this opportunity to secure the best possible space for experimental performance in Brooklyn, this donor has made a $25,000, one-for-two matching grant to be met by August 1st. For every dollar we raise, up to $50,000, between now and August 1st, ISSUE Project Room will receive 50 cents. If we raise $50,000 by August 1st, ISSUE will get the entire $25,000 match. Following announcement of the match last week, ISSUE has already received $10,000. My goal is to raise another $25,000 this coming week. ISSUE will be meeting with the property’s developers on July 24th. It is crucial to our success that we have this money in hand in time for this meeting. Nothing could better help ISSUE in making its case to the property’s developers than to be able to walk into the meeting saying we have met the match! Successfully closing this first phase of the campaign before the deadline will inspire large donors, corporations and foundations. I know you understand the importance of helping places like ISSUE Project Room, one of the few vibrant spaces supporting experimental performance. I am particularly appealing to you because you are our artistic community. It’s especially important that the many and varied artists who have participated in helping to make ISSUE the outstanding place that it is show their support at this time. If every artist who has performed over the last 4 years gives just $25 we will raise over $15,000. Write a check for whatever you can as soon as you receive this e-mail. Every bit helps, and we want ISSUE’s new home to be a place infused with the love and energy of many supporters, whatever their financial capability.

I’d also like you to call five friends, send them copies of this letter, and ask them to support ISSUE as generously as you have. If you or your friends would like to know more about ISSUE, I’m happy to speak with you. You can contact me at 718-812-1129. What would New York City be without experimental art? I’d rather not think about it! So, please become an ISSUE donor, and help us meet our match today.”

Sincerely,
Suzanne Fiol, Founder and Artistic Director

How to give: ISSUE Project Room is under the fiscal sponsorship of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), and all donations are tax-deductible. To make a donation on line, click “For Donors.” Make sure to earmark your donation for the Issue Project Room. To make a donation by check, please make your check payable to the New York Foundation for the Arts. Write ISSUE Project Room in the memo line, and mail your check to: ISSUE Project Room, 232 Third Street, Brooklyn NY 11215.

As the rain came down its dotted patter woke me at 3:30AM. I marveled for a few moments, watching from my front door, before returning to the comfort under the blankets. The motion of the rain was quietly very much in keeping with the new work on paper I’ve been making in the studio. In fact, I was so deep in it yesterday that I lost sight of time and worked for nearly seven hours straight, with a mini coffee break to meet up with Scott. As time would dictate I completely missed out on the The Back Room last night because of my state of mind, pure process. It’s great that nothing can detract my attention once I’m in the mode. A few folks I had hoped would be going were also working on projects, so the focus was probably made in the stars. The studio is my magnetic lynchpin these days, and it feels fit. Though I still hope to nab one of those anthologies put out by Clear Cut Press. This event, put on by Matthew Stadler and Stephanie Snyder, is a fantastic feast of creative thought.

Today will include a visit to Dr. Sue Taylor’s lecture on Hitchcock’s The Birds at Noon, and then back to the studio, and perhaps viewing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in the evening.

PS: Portland’s Tilt Gallery & Project Space made it into the July/August issue of Art Papers. Check it out.

And those things include Paul’s return home late night tonight after being gone a week with a whole slew of teens at a youth conference in North Carolina (7K kids - could you imagine?). It was a good week to catch up on things, buy art supplies, visit with friends, enjoy some concerts - but most importantly, have solid chunks of studio time. Aside, I learned the temps here surpassed those in NC, and it’s still very muggy up here. Despite my skin’s waxy feel I will try and compose myself.

I spent a portion of the day meeting with Scott (SWI) about our project that will be presented in the new Museum of Contemporary Craft in September. The Desoto Building officially starts opening partially this upcoming week, I saw folks from Augen and Froelick buzzing about this weekend. Hey - did I say Scott Wayne Indiana and I were doing a show in a craft museum? Are you asking yourself what the heck are these two idea guys possibly going to do within those four walls? Well you should.

Actually, those were the questions we continued volleying today at the studio. He delivered a piece he cobbled together after our last meeting and at about 4 feet or so it sits in my work space. Our subsequent email exchange is the continuing process of conjuring something potentially interactive. We have discussed video, scuplture, collage, words, wood, white…you name it. Actually that’s what we should call the piece, “YOU NAME IT”! But, we actually played the word game and came up with a very fitting title that goes along with his initial model, and I added a fixture that will most likely contain electricity (a running theme for me, and if you hadn’t noticed, you will soon). Scott and I have different styles, agendas, drawing boards, you know. This could be an atomic clash, or a mash-up. But I think we are going for something with a bit of neutrality that speaks to both our work. And it seems to have contented us for the night….but there is some process involved, most is complete, and/or may be fabricated. It will make sense in the end, or is that in the beginning…. Actually the whole collab started with the chicken/egg conundrum.

I hope Paul notices that I ran his mobile through ‘the works’ at the carwash today. I LOVE going through carwashes. They are like quick hallucinatory thrillrides. Also, while driving around today I spied license plates from the following places: Lousiana, North Dakota, many from Washington and California, British Columbia, North Carolina and New Mexico. Maybe cultural tourism is doing OK afterall? Oh, and I got to see Abi today for the first time in a while covered in paint, her husband Steve came home, seemingly unphased all bloody and scraped up from a bike excursion. What a duo! Her paintings are BIG. I am very excited for September. Woah.

AM I BEING SERVED?
As Sunday waned, I got to that new belgian waffle/art house, that Jace Gace place on Belmont! I had the savory ‘grilled cheese’ with its tart accompanying dill pickle. The crispy delight was slathered with a sweet-bite mustard and herbs - a fat piece of heaven on earth and oogled at Overkill, works by 100 artists completely covering the walls. The space, in fact, formerly was the intermediary Portland Art Center before it moved to Chinatown. The show completely ran the gamut from narrative to abstract in this completely unjuried first come/first served show which somehow comes together quite nicely for such a massive amount of work. The place is a feast for the senses. Next time I will try a sweet thing.

Shouldn’t every day be filled with art, sushi and chocolate?

Just my sheer mention of this sated state of mind could easily conclude this entire entry…though I will press on a bit. Today I met up with Hilary Pfeifer, whose blog is just getting better and better - she’s so detailed in many colorfully insightful ways (WOW: her version is even more expanded than mine!). Like a Chinese peacock or Saker falcon, we are true birds of a feather. And though I have seen some of this month’s gallery offerings already, it was good to do it all over again as a duo. While in the process of conjuring our dual viewing action powers (’art twins’ - activate!), I realized a new perspective in general, a sense of minimalism. I noticed this mostly in viewing works at PDX Contemporary, Quality Pictures and Elizabeth Leach Gallery. We started our day with a bready sweet bressane and hot cafe beverages at the wonderful Pearl Bakery. After talking about where to go and what to see, our street map turned out slightly differently than our original GPS settings. Speaking of which, our first stop was Beppu Wiarda Gallery for the group show ‘It’s All About Maps‘. We had just missed a gallery talk by minutes, and after being approached by Duane Snider (The Art Counselor) and meeting his wife, Gail Beppu kindly introduced herself. Hilary spoke with her about a prior gallery she ran on the coast and some relations with her mom (she may detail this in her upcoming blog). For me the clear stand outs in this group show included works by Cynthia Nawalinski, Adam Sorenson, Kevin Gilmore and D.E. May with very interesting pieces by Sally Finch (she knows maps!), James Hibbard and Kevin Burrus. With twenty-five artists here, there is something that is bound to meet many sensabilities, many of the works highly craft-oriented, both 2 and 3D. It was nice to see artist/writer Tamara English there as she was talking with Diane Archer, one of the artists in the show whom she introduced to us (Hilary and I had seen her work at Ogle earlier this year).

Down the street we ventured into Pulliam-Deffenbaugh to see Deborah Oropallo’s work. Last month they had one of her works on view and honestly, it didn’t suit my aesthetic, so I had lukewarm expectations. Though entering an entire gallery of these shape-shifting costumed bodies shifted my perspective a touch, and I think hearing Hilary’s luminous response effected my thinking some. Though, technically, as a P’shop practitioner, I felt they had a choppy awkwardness to the craft. I commented that it would be cool if these were holographs and she noted that they could also work as lenticular images. The melange of pin-ups and traditional masterworks, photography and references to painting, seems initially novel, and when they match up (never seamlessly here) they play with you. Guise may appeal to anyone interested in a certain feminist-tinged voice, challenging the power struggle for women to be seen in history through a blurry gauze of stereotypes. It works on that level, for sure. The flat colors are a bit like old encyclopedias, and the prints range a bit in scale, mostly larger than 30″ in each dimension. The themes of William Tell, knighted swordmen and other aristocracy tread lightly and tritely upon history and myth. While in the end I thought the show was OK, it didn’t rattle my cage.

Across the vestibule we entered PDX to see Wes Mills‘ drawings, and for me, it is yet, another cooling, gorgeous, clean show to compliment his APEX exhibition at the Portland Art Museum. Small, square, extremely minimal work that use few materials to define small, intricacies in space. They are like sacred architectural plans, very harmonious in their simplicity of linear structure. They could easily be referred to as haikus, but I’ll save you from going down that road. Mills creates work that is extremely definitive in its approach, overtly zen in its outcome. His use of graphite and powder pigments finds the weight of white space flatly, these are not about dimension, not about rendering, but about a finite sense of choice and perhaps precision when the artist hits the ground running. Though I find the work quite successful, they may leave some asking “Are they too minimal for 2007″?

As we walked down the street we ran into a friend of Hilary’s, book artist Barb Tetenbaum with a German visitor named Matthias. They were a hoot to chat with, discussing a concept about Oregon seceding from the nation and becoming part of the EU. When I queried this man about the title of my piece currently up at Tilt, he immediately acknowledged his understanding of the history of its socio-political origins - and even shared the names of some founders of the Kommune 1 movement (sorry, no translation) that I had no clue about. It gave me a glow. We all embarked into Elizabeth Leach Gallery who has new shows by Lee Kelly and Michelle Ross. Since I’m not a heavy metalhead I focused my attention on the very eye-opening work up from by Ross. This was my first exposure to her lovely oil on panel, paper and linen, respectively. Her cool style employs few geometric motifs that are sort of miniature cityscapes redux. Almost every piece has a base color background, and her palette is primed in a pale, neutral, starkness. But in such works as Untitled (BLS) the colors of nature are contained in building blocks of partial set plans, yet fully detailed, blantantly left barren for the viewer to fill in the space. This is a strong show worth multiple viewings. I was particularly drawn to the smaller works on paper, but she is a confirmed practitioner moving to the surface of the canvas with smooth ease. The mysterious Untitled (Trastevere) also sticks out of the pack as a repetitive planar game. The red is deep and rich, the shape infers both pyramid and traffic cone. Curious work that dares to go as far as to prod its audience to establish a narrative.

Quality Pictures was the next destination for an opportunity to again see Bryan Schellinger’s geo-architectural striped paintings and its accompanying installation apparatus which, incidentally, will shift all month long. On 1st Thursday there were 3K black ball jawbreakers peppering the gallery floor. People purposefully and randomly kicked them from all corners. The click-clack resonance was reminiscent of miniature bowling, or cueing up while breaking a game of pool. The gigantic ice-shaved sculpture of the artist’s head which was earlier in the center of the room has melted away and was neatly replaced with all these palm-sized candies in a vitrine at gallery center. Many of these 2″ black beauties ,with their accompanying used state, are either scraped up or have been spattered upon with droplets of water. Now upon the gallery floor are white foam petals (probably some type of packing material) which are quite elegant. The curved cornered paintings are rigidly tectonic, but the sweeping and subdued soft palette courts this blatant hard-edged formality with a mysterious gauzy haze. There’s the edgy rub. It’s like we are looking at skyscrapers through a broken magnifying glass on a particularly foggy Portland morning from under 500 feet. Schellinger breaks the schism of straight up striped pieces like those he’s made in the past by taping out sections and fading and shifting the scope of light. There is a very unfamilar, abstract sense of depth in most of what we can literally see, as such it is practically subliminal. If you stop and read into the work you may see diving boards, floating boxes, awnings, umbrellas, ladders and perhaps even an exploding briefcase. Schellinger toys with the perfection of lines by disection, occasionally pleating and deleting. Of all these 48″ square pieces the stand out is PDX-#9.07 . The more you look into it, beyond its staccato lines and patterns of matte and glossy markings, you just fall deeper into a void. It’s like a tumbling tower, and to view it this way you would be floating in mid air, most likely falling. With its hints aplenty into the age-old world of op-art this ethereal, handpainted work is highly process-oriented but in no way a simple punchline or trick. The whisper tickles my eye.

Right then we headed to Nine Gallery which is a co-op under the wings of Blue Sky Gallery. Brenda Mallory’s new show, Slipping Into Order: A Glitch in the Phylum astutely closes the wonderful old space after many years, and she does it with an observant voice of a sage. Mallory’s work has long been a production of process, mostly creating sculptures from fabric, hardware and wax (I wonder what she might think of my piece at Tilt this month?). For this installation piece she has used many of the varous types of work she has developed in the past, and both hung them to the walls, alongside found/collected organic elements in rows, as well as laying them out on a desk and table, and partial ladder. Other objects like a microscope and lamp are part of what’s on view, all painted a flat matte black. Some works are in metal pails on the floor, stacked and filled. She has even created a wall painting, something like an aerial maze. This approach has undoubtedly somehow, unconscious or not, been informed by Ann Hamilton, but without any live characters. It’s like a deserted scene, that you are prying into - someone’s lofty experiment with nature. If the work is politically environmental, its subverted nicely. Mallory’s craft is innately organic, with particular attention to a layer of genuinely stimulating and taunting the senses in this ’still life’.

We dashed through Blackfish who are having a student graduate show, the work that stood out most for me was University of Oregon photography grad Joshua Jalbert whose silver gelatin print grid presented whirring, atomic line drawings with light. From there we visited Tilt (I will leave that dialogue to Hilary), then we went for sushi and drinking chocolate. We ended our whirlwind tour at the Portland Art Center. Upon entering we were greeted by Tore Djupedal (who has a nice window project on at Blackfish right now). I then revisited the offerings, looking much more closely at John Mace’s No Good God which has the look and feel of being under the twin towers in its aftermath, floor pulled apart at the seams, sand falling, sounding like rain, but then the bubbles floating from below, we pondered about the message of hope in those bubbles. I was more keyed into the way it sounded this time, it’s much better without the tromping crowd of an opening - and made me think that openings at the Center could potentially be better versed off the 1st Thursday circuit. Imagine, only those making it a choice to come for an event, rather than the citywide Disneyized version of an art walk. Mind you I am all for this monthly romp, but it loses a layer of respectful synergy between the viewer and the art when you mix drunkenness and the ’seen on the scene’ ouevre. There’s just something less respectful about the mass hoardes that you don’t get at a special opening. I’m just considering how important differentiation of how you cordone your audience can make the overall experience for everyone. Anyhow, this installation, in particular, helped that message ring true. It’s sooty, big, a bit brazen, but at the same time pretty rootsy - like a tabernacle, a quiet cave, a secret space.

Looking again at the Portland Modern show curated by artist and Froelick Gallery manager Victor Maldonado gave me new glimpses at the subtleties in the strong works by both Eva Speer and Nika Blasser whose Wisp and Black Triptych are both small scale beauties - and yet immediate and commanding. Competent, young painters blossoming. I’m slightly on the fence about Roberta Aylward’s collages on birch..they look really intriguing from a yard stick away - but close inspection reveals a bit more of the process, cutting to the chase quicker than I can type this run on sentence.

One thing I found unusual about this show was how two of the artists here reminded me of two other regional artists in the spotlight. Tim Cross‘ work had more than a hint of Storm Tharp’s recent ‘…Heaven‘ show, not the imagery, but the watery illumination of black ink. Similairly, Laurie Danial’s paintings had strong shades of a certain something seen in Kristan Kennedy’s efforts in last year’s Oregon Biennial. I think its the warbly lines, like a series of pipes as well as the montage of multiple psychedelic things going on, on one surface. Knowing Tharp and Kennedy are friends and neighbors I found this pairing odd - I wonder if Cross and Danial have yet met? While these works had their references they manage to maintain their own distinct muscular voice, helping to carry the vision of the show and its curator’s vision. Rachel Denny is always interesting to watch, and while the local scene has had a glut of ‘deer’ grazing in our galleries in recent years, she has pulled together Buckshot, quite the version in waxed lead, and a great title as well. The whole thing is copiously tacked together like a wild Frankensteinized patchwork. A lovely silhouette. I am not completely sold on the fabric it stand upon, but at least it’s neutral white and doesn’t in any way clash with the efforts to build this creature. I’m quite fond of the Forest Debris piece as well, the green cast resin, like a rare emerald insulating a model tree inside. It’s simple, pert, obtuse. Probably only Mandee Schroer’s work didn’t connect for me. Her slideshow, in the downstairs hallway seemed to easily get lost in light and the space its planted, seems like an afterthought. And her sculptural work is pretty crude, and self-effacing. Mt. St. Helens blown up? I’m not sure after having been up to the observatory of the real thing that this raw model version makes any sense. I mean, the Peter Brady version is just worlds apart. The remainder of the show is passable, and doesn’t detract from the overall clean feel to this version of Portland Modern.

A waft of cool air is rolling in softly, perhaps hell is freezing over?

Since June 13th, my latest visitor trend statistics.

I’m not much of an analyst, just mostly enjoy looking at the originating sources. It’s partly baffling, humbling, and curious. For instance, in the last month I learned that of the 4977 total pageviews of the site 3654 were unique visits that came in my direction. Also that 2607 of those directly visited my blog (someone’s reading it!), next up over 260 visitors viewed my portfolio (I should probably beef it up - and not with ham). I had only nine people join my new e-list, which is growing like daisies in Winter. In terms of storylines, more than expected visited my mention of the ‘ugliest dog in the world’ (awww), and fewer visited my piece on live cinema, which was, of course, much more important to me. Tells you something about what the ‘kids’ are reading these days. Guess ya gotta ‘jazz it up’ sometimes. Though a surprisingly high number of people went to my mention of The Hook Up as a source for finding out about the show. That’s a good thing when you want as many people to see what you are doing artistically as opposed to fumbling with words out here.

Newbies vs Old Timers
New visitors to the site were 734 as opposed to my trustworthy regulars at 1695 visits. Over 1100 use Safari!!!! That’s a lot of Macs (1451 of you, as opposed to the 974 on PCs) - damn art people, you know who you are)! I do have a visitor who uses a Palm750 and another using a Unix machine (thanks for getting there however, on whatever craft you drive). Then ranks IE users, and then Firefox and I even have a single visitor who uses Opera. That’s cool. A large majority use screens with resolutions at 1024×768, though someone out there views me at 240×240 - maybe I am being seen in the early 90’s mind’s eye? Seven hundred and thirty of these visits in the prior month were one time onlies, while there are 459 folks who have visited the sites under my moniker up to 200 times (that’s an interesting stat). 2320 come from the Americas (44 from Canada, 2262 from the US, the difference from South America), 86 from Europe, 17 from Asia and 6 from Oceania.

GLOBAL NORMING?
I did not have visits from 14 states of our union last month (3 of those sleepy states are in my former stomping grounds of New England, and five others are squarely shaped), though the other 36 paid respects. My homies in Oregon visited just 2 shy of 1200, while nearly 500 from our sister state just over the bridge which includes the neighboring ‘Couve (WA that is). In the ‘other Vancouver (of the fatale glass ’scrapers) there were still about nine folks checking in. Most visitors from the Motherland to the north come from Montreal and then Toronto. But it is always pleasant to see a visitor from the Maritimes (it’s a heritage thing), of which I had a few - hi guys! Suppose that’s enough micro sharing and caring about this particular subject until the next blue moon. I hope you enjoyed this short chapter. ‘Til we meet again…

The endless day……

No, it wasn’t scary at all. But, ever have one of those? Well, it was 20 degrees cooler than earlier in the week, but why am I shirtless at home now? Ugh. Is there a difference between the Doppler and Greenhouse Effect - is it a doppelganger? Aside from the minor trials and tribulations of my private life, I met up with collaborator/compadre Scott d’Wayne Indie-anna this morning for starters at the Bakery Bar (cute cakes and staff). Though I am trying to ween off most food in general, I had to have a scone, it was cinnamon pecan. How could I not?

FROM THE MIND OF THE CHURCH OF THE (other) SUBGENIUS
Scott (whose new statement appears on his site’s blog) and I sipped cafe brews and chatted about life in general and the craft…and how it effects the ongoing well being of the public inter-logue at large. I better stop making up words as my freekin’ wiki is probably still under watchful eye, overtly monitored closely by critics and criminals, crustaceans and credible cronies. Big-bro intelligencia is out there in etherspace. Makes ya wonder if the whole future will be completely make believe, or else you’ll have to sweat to breathe.

I’m looking forward to this collab with Scott as it is probably the last thing I am doing publicly this year before I completely immerse myself (barricade) into the studio a while. It’s freeing to be working directly on paper, no in-betweens, nothing digital, just my eye/hand coordination and what comes next…and while I may be a bit improvisational in the process - the combination of happenstance and circumstance is 1/2 calculated 1/2 the time. So what ends up on the surface is partly obscured by gravity, time and the elements of the moment (humidity, liquidity, absorption). This all said, it seems that what Scott and I conjure may have something to do with our simultaneous and surmounting senses of serendipidous freedom of self. Not purposefully being selfless, but maybe something of an inversion of the ego vs. the id. Or not. We are now volleying ideas, formal and conceptual, to and fro. It feels like an open dialogue that has taken many bent turns, so far none too frustrating not to re-bend into another shape.

If this makes sense to you, you are most likely clairvoyant (not just my former drag name). That was a TMI.

Well, making a long story short, I managed to get around today and over to see the current show at Chambers Gallery, work by Chris Ashley. The man is inventive with both HTML code and its outcome in terms of color…it gives creedence to ‘millions and millions of colors’ and is not really by any stretch WYSIWYG (the show closes tomorrow). In these small works on (regular computer printout?) paper he also has a way with the optical approach of looking at color that somewhat tricks your eyes, you envision depth on a flat surface, and it’s all computer generated. I want to see these at 30″ or larger. The interlocking shapes are filled with rhythm and potential symbologies. The 365 works he did each day of a year were a bit less successful individually, but as a cluster it proved its point, a bit like looking at doodles in someone’s drawing journal, sketches not quite ready for prime time. The work will certainly go somewhere if he affords proper framing and/or embraces a more diverse sense of scale - one outside of the common printer paradigm of 8 1/2″ x 11″ (boring - think in feet!). That said, it is a minor criticism for work intense of color and leftfield dalliances outside the edge of formality.

The afternoon was perfect to scout down two pictures I needed to make in North PDX (one out near the Expo Center and one down near MLK/Alberta). These were images I have seen so many times and have just either not had my camera or the light wasn’t right. So, I captured these strange apparitions which I am sure will soon disappear like many of the images I have made in the past 1/2 dozen years of the outside world in transition.

For the first time I stopped into the N. Vancouver Avenue location of Guestroom Gallery which has really gone through a major transition. They are doing a smart thing by hosting shows quarterly, giving plenty of time for people to peruse the walls, of which they have many more than they did at the Wonder location. A great old fashioned sorta space, with a wide variety of works on view, currently including paintings and other works by the artists of McMeniman’s. The gallery specializes in works from estates, many which include regional artists ranging back several decades. There are many separate smaller rooms each from a particular estate or a range of work by a few artists. And while there I learned that Katayama is in the process of a front-end facelift to accomodate a more serious gallery environment upon entry.

After that a quick jaunt over to Tilt Gallery & Project Space to, of all things, pick up mail that someone dropped off for me at the gallery. Odd, yes. But, this thing has happned to me before (though I do have a home, a mailbox and email, oh and, I think I already mentioned, an iPhone). Some people! Aside, while there, however, I oogled happily at the way in which my piece, “Wer zweimal mit dem gleichen pennt gehört schon zum Establishment.” (Note: Did you know there were 170 submissions?). My piece is naturally wilting in the heat and humidity of late and I couldn’t be more joyous…it is all I could have hoped for. A completely fabricated compendium of objects, made from mostly artificial, industrial materials, appearing like autumn leaves, slowly fading. It’s a lovely sight - so I recommend to go see the show now that it’s had time to breathe a bit. I’m much happier now than I was when it opened. It was just too fresh in the moment. It’s like a vintage wine now, uncorked and in the open air. While visiting the gallery I asked Josh if I could peak into their flat files, which is recommended to do upon your next visit. I even bought a work by Donna Stack. It looks like Ultra and Blogtown noticed Soft too!

Happy weekend to all, and to all a gute nacht!

Yesterday was a full day. I had four photo shoots with several symmetrical models, started using my new work table and kicked off three new works on paper. Dinner consisted of a delicious homemade creamy risotto of garden-fresh veggies and herbs in a tomato reduction, and still warm peach pie! That would seem enough for anyone, and though my motor was whirring on low, I managed to get out to the show I mentioned yesterday. As I was driving in the lower industrial side of SE, a few blocks from the studio, the sky cracked quietly with a series of heat lightning. Since it’s not native to the regional weather systems it’s a transformative occurrence, and seems all the more spectacular in the air.

This club called Branx is run behind the scenes by the competent and truly self-styled Noah Mickens, though I didn’t see him last night, and the location is the old B-Complex. This place has had way more lives than any cat. I arrived at the very tail end of two guys who were singing, darkly, with some synths, one in b-ball shorts and a wife beater. There sound wasn’t 1/2 bad. But what was the other 1/2? It wasn’t long that Dan Burke (Illusion of Safety) took the stage. The setting, with its few lights and fewer patrons seemed like something out of a cheesey b-movie. Someone had the wherewithall to cut most lights and I counted about ten total bodies including myself, the performer, a door lady and a bartender. But perform he did, and it was a certain mix of industrialized f’d up beats atop a wash of filters and other gizmo sounding drones. It was a soul-gazer symphony. Serious and intensively ending at your nerves. I waited around a few minutes to say hi to my old friend who was basically heading straight up to Seattle where he is playing two shows with house faves Climax Golden Twins and Bill Horist. If you’re up there don’t miss it.

07/14: 8PM - GALLERY 1412
1412 18th Ave E, Seattle, Washington - 5$
DAN BURKE / BILL HORIST / more…

07/15: 9PM - LO_FI PERFORMANCE GALLERY
429 B Eastlake Ave, Seattle, Washington - $5
ILLUSION OF SAFETY / CLIMAX GOLDEN TWINS / BILL HORIST

THIS JUST IN:
It’s late (er, early) and I am just home from an immersive sound experience, but first…for all those out there that knew nothing about this show it is tomorrow (today), Thursday, July 12th, 8PM @ Branx (320 SE 2nd):

FREE DEATH
ILLUSION OF SAFETY
NEQUAQUAM VACUUM

The best $5 you’ll spend all week. That’s right, one of Chicago’s most accomplished underground sound artists, Dan Burke, is indeed back - perhaps for the first time since he played Soundvision in ‘03? In the recesses of my mind, I can still hear that din of him rolling a marble across the gallery floor. One of those rare ‘pin-drop’ intersections of live music that sends an eternal chill right to my center. Aside from also being quite a good photographer (and another foodie) Burke has recorded over a dozen confounding works as Illusion of Safety since sometime in the late 80s or so. Should be well worth checking out.

For those who came out to Holocene tonight, however, this was nothing but an entire evening of sheer fusion between the body and the performers. Opener Seth Nehil used plain paper, a bowed air duct and various vocal techniques to present something quite intimate, yet with a certain aloofness. He looped his abstract field recordings with live portions of the performance that were then layered into the mix perhaps through footpedals? He always has an unexpected sense of humor in his work - an undertone of wry folly, like tonight’s sudden burst of a track of laughter. Nehil has a new CD out with regular collaborator Jgrzinich on Jason Kahn’s fantastic Cut Records called Gyre. He continually reshapes what he does live on stage, so it’s worth seeing him early and often, a continually shape-shifting maestro who pairs the tactile and the heady.

As I looked through the crowd, it was a fuller house than usual for these types of ‘art sound shows’. In the room were artists Hilary Pfeifer, Bryan Schellinger, Ryan Jeffery, Ethan Rose, Bethany Wright, Matt Marble, Kelly Rauer, David Chandler, Vanessa Renwick and many others like my old buds Erin and Gary from Providence days and Jon from Anthem.

This was the time for Daniel Menche to take to the stage. One of the regions most determined practitioners (and unsung heroes of the scene) he effectively employed a single red light to the entire darkness of the rest of the space. Through his intensive set he channeled the vivid circulatory system of this sense of pure darkness. It seemed he was having an out-of-body-experience in front of us as he used his body and a foot+ long sound conducting instrument he perched in the crook of his neck as he wrangled atop a chair. Then taking the same instrument he sandwiched and chaotically jerked it wildly between drumsticks. His shadow randomly cast improv demons and mystical symbology. It was steady and loud, headily shrouded in the organics of dusk. In all my musical travels I am astonished to say that this was my first time to see him play live, though we’ve been friendly for a handful of years. It was far beyond worth the wait, but I won’t let another opportunity like this one slip by casually. Later he came up to me and cheekily mentioned he does two kinds of shows, “Country & Western” and this was his “Western show” - the pioneering post wild west one might say. (and don’t miss THIS)

The darkness continued as the audience was passed Francisco Lopez’s signature performance blindfolds. Lopez started his set by explaining we were about to be immersed and we could choose not to wear the strip of cloth ’round our heads…but highly recommended it as a way of exploring the inner psyche of experiencing sound. He also coyly mentioned that he would do his best to embellish on the Willamette Week’s preview of his bringing the apocalypse to town. Since I had been experienced, seeing him circa ‘03 in Barcelona, I knew the blindfold was necessary to enhance the connection between him and us. Most people I could see donned them, and into an engulfing headspace we went. Lopez started with a bevy of what sounded like clips from action film sequences, special effects sounds, moments before and in-between key plot twists, chases, and a variety of rumbling drone and explosive futurism. He then brought things down to a quiet hum and hiss and back into the gyrating cacophony of sonic layers. When the scope of sound was a quiet purr the audience was stunted, silent. And he repeated that cycle, with a different chain of inventive soundscapes. Though his sound speaks of volume, it has this near innebriating sense about it, so I may have nodded off a few times, maybe a connection with r.e.m.? And so it went. I experienced a lot of his work in the center of my chest and it just vibrated out from there. I was going to come home and hit the hay immediately - but got a second wind along the way. I may need a melatonin or two.

Current Mood: Extatic

TJ, not OJ.

Thanks for the idea Hilary! Looking forward to the movie! So, just after Chris came by to drop-off and assemble my new work versa-work table, which fits the space particularly well in its new environs, the main focus was trying to keep it chill so I spent the remainder of the day taking in Astoria…Thanks B!

TOMORROW
Sun’ll Come Out:
- photo shoot w/model
- iced tea + frosty gelato
- collab w/SWI
- a cold shower
- and an evening concert @ Holocene.
Includes: Menche, Nehil
& Lopez! (9PM, $7)

YouTube strikes again, this time acting as a fine-tuned wayback machine. Funny, I never saw this in the day. For some unbeknownst reason I’m completely mesmerized at the bridge where she ducks down and then re-emerges, shimmering in light. Ladies & Gentlemen, Miss Grace Jones.

PS: Was Portland in the Times again?