Just recently I became introduced to the world of a particularly special Viennese designer living in Paris, Robert Stadler (thanks Azriel). And I am thrilled to become more familiar with work such as this (in a church no less). And this. And this too. Seems Stadler (no relation to Matthew) recently participated in Nuit Blanche (this “white night all-nighter” is also celebrated in Toronto), an annual festival started in Paris in ‘02, with museums and other venues open all night long. Let there be light - Viva Noctum!

The Atlantic has this story (w/an illustrative slideshow). I really need to get out more often, and a trip to the Wolong Nature Reserve in the remote Yangzi Region of Sichuan, China (”Province of Abundance” - and birth place of Szechuan cuisine) might do the trick. Though Sichuan is also one of the major industrial bases of China and as such one of the most polluted. With an estimated total panda population of only 1,600 of these creatures in the wilds of China today, this furry friend is one of our most endangered species. WWF is the first official worldwide environmental group dedicating its resources to help save the animal and its habitat.

• • •

Speaking of other habitats, and getting away from it all, big nods to Arcy Douglass for his extremely well rounded reportage of the latest exhibition at SFMOMA (check out the interactive features) by house favorite Olafur Eliasson. Back in May of ‘06 I saw his show at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery (who also shows the work of Uta Barth) and had this to say:

Your Engagement Sequence
by Olafur Eliasson

“This gallery is truly dedicated to work that flares boundaries, and does it with technology, light and space in this forum. The central work, Your negotiable panorama dealt with the ripples of wavy water, its reflections and light in the round - all enabled by the motion of entrants to the space. A slight bouncing platform actually uses your weight to trip the light…fantastic! The uncertain museum was another work dealing in cylindrical space with light and shadow (and motors). Panels of steel and projection foil dangled from a centered tubular freestanding space. Upon entry the space creates large cast silhouttes to the exterior walls, along with large circular ornamental geometries rotatating in space from the ceiling, offering inner/outer projections and multiple experiences within a convex space. Upstairs hung a huge geo-prism of mirrors that dangled like a Seussian chandelier, and a super darkened room that acted as a camera obscura. The best part was your ability to walk right inside the “camera”. Great show where he is again dealing in larger than human scale optical dimensions.”

The Swedish remodel. Ralf Hütter, the leader of undoubtedly the world’s most influential electronic group ever; Kraftwerk, is taking part in a project by singing guest vocals on the debut single by Audio Objekt, a virtually unknown duo from the city of Lund. Hutter sings in english on the song Artificial Personality. A newly released single also contains updated versions of memorable Kraftwerk songs named Vår Nya Värld (Swedish for “Our New World”, or Computerworld) and Modellen (The Model) are performed in Swedish. Of course, countless others have covered these tracks from the punchy cha-cha take by Señor Coconut (aka Uwe Schmidt aka Atom™) to Rammstein. Along the way there have been a few who have used their influence to the hilt like My Robot Friend as well as producer-cum-would-be coveract Kraftwelt (now Patchworkz, who may have never actually recorded any of their material, but borrowed amply from the essence). There have also been brilliant multidirectional outtakes by the likes of Terre Thaemlitz and most recently by the game-system wielding, Atari-esque 8-bit Operators. The model lives on…

Whether you like or loathe the maker, or the intention, or even the frilly social vocabulary and subtle jerking of the banal Hallmark™ chain - one thing is for sure, Jeff Koons‘ Hanging Heart makes one marvel at the spectacle (or audacity) that has trumped art for art sake in light of the spirit of artist as multimillionaire ‘rock star’. Vital statistics say she hangs erect at a mighty nine feet tall, at a meaty 3500 pounds, falling into the capable hands of art gallery giant Gagosian who also happen to represent the artist worldwide. CNN reports the record sale.

Someone out there is having a lot of fun responding to the recent Portland Art Coloring Book by using excerpts from the book itself with song clips and Brad Adkins‘ Big Red (Marriage Records). For the project, Scott Wayne Indiana used found images from the web to create a typical crude coloring book where anyone could fill in the blanks. There have been several responses to date, and this was a nice twist on it in my humble opinion (all copyrights withstanding aside). This isn’t the first time that Adkins, a conceptual artist who has appropriated from the work of others has himself been appropriated. Or is it Wayne Indiana being appropriated (spoofed) here? This would make for an atypical gray area that seems ripe for dialogue aplenty, or at least for a lil’ bit of insider lovenesting. However you peel it, it’s probably quite healthy that the influence of each other in a small network would overlap.

POSTSCRIPT: The original videos were taken down, probably due to copyright. These are new ones.

Speaking of networks: My fellow a/v colleagues, London’s Ruth and Joe of Semiconductor are on tour through April ‘08! They were on the Mutek panel that I designed and moderated last Summer. This duo is working with NASA’s Space Sciences Laboratory at UC Berkeley and their work just keeps getting better and better. Magnetic Movie will receive its TV debut on Channel 4 on Sunday December 2nd at midnight (GBH) as part of the Animate TV program; it includes interviews with them and other artists and is presented by Stuart Comer from Tate Modern. I am just going to have to make an attempt to get them to the Pacific Northwest sometime in the coming year.

With a trip to Miami on the horizon and a clear blue day here in Oregon, the skies are in my eyes. Well, it’s more about light. As illumination, as power source, as mysterious keeper of secrets. I’ve been looking closely at the way light shapes both interiors and public space, and the way things change as seconds tick. How these spaces, in the spectrum of light, are temporary and peripheral. How light creates lines on objects, and directs the gaze when it casts shadows, and/or bleaches out the places where architectures come together in the sky. With our often overcast atmosphere the region really affords a sense of a balanced spectrum of light most of the year. That’s on my mind.

It excites me to be able to get virtual with some of my favorite artists, including Martin Puryear’s brilliant looking retrospective at MOMA. This gives you an insight into the work of one of the most influential and living American artists of our time. The 66 year old African American Puryear has been working since the punk era of the mid 70s. The page even provides video of the installation of the exhibition, some catalogue highlights and virtually every piece in the show. Of course, seeing the work in person, especially given its scale and use of materials, cannot be reproduced to any real facsimile thereof, the incredible attention to the detailed original. But this is a great way to see something, from more than a single perspective, without having to leave your easy chair. However, if you like what you see and can’t make it to NY, I hear the show will tour to LA next year. Roberta Smith of the Times had this to say.

Biking art critic James Kalm also did this nice ten-minute podcast on Yahoo.

The day after many have taken in a feast, there’s this universal understanding in something the dictionary explains: “to absorb or assimilate mentally”. Personally, I’m going to think some on that today as I head to the gym for the first time in many months, not out of guilt, but some recognition of health/fitness. Yes, like many I have lapsed a bit, and knowing that just three years ago I was about 30 pounds less. Of course, five years ago I was twenty pounds more, so being over the midpoint of my goal is always something to think about. Yesterday it was about the celebration of food and the cultural spirit of those making it. We had a smörgåsbord of Asian treats including a fish noodle soup and sushi casserole (that’s my name for it - but it was a traditional dish with seaweed, rice vinegar and ginger +), along with typical holiday fare with a twist (yes we had purple sweet potatoes, and a Southern pumpkin praline pie. It was an interesting role reversal to see all the women playing Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii while the men watched reruns of I Love Lucy on TVLand. Not your typical Norman Rockwell moment. I love holiday stories, the less traditional and wacky, the better. This was tame compared to others I assume. But before I make an ass out of you and me….What was yours like?

TJ Norris (me): No jive turkey in the haus this T-giving. Here’s to free time chatting w/art bud Scott Wayne Indiana. Hi there….

Scott Wayne Indiana (Scott): Hello Mr. Norris, that’s what you told me to call you, right?

me: Easy does it. It’s only mister if yo nasty! So, 2007 has been a big year in your world…yes?

Scott: I guess so.

me: Well, you’ve done your Braille Project, the stick figures, ‘M_US__EUM‘, the Portland Art Coloring Book, and your recent solo painting gig in Los Angeles.

Scott: And American Testimonial. Do a Google image search on “Hope Atherton.” Yes, Los Angeles is a nice city. I like it there. Most people say they abhor the traffic. Me? I adore it. Take out hor and add a door. Abhor becomes adore. (Sorry, I’m trying to be witty for the google chat interview, and I guess I’m failing.)

me: I will get to that…yes, I saw one of those pieces up in Seattle on a public street pole. Your work is often in the streets. I’m interested in the feedback you get from folks, from stangers.

Scott: I do get feedback. Mostly on the horse project.

me: Besides from the media, what do the people in the street say…any common responses, any crazy ones?

Scott: Hmm….actually, nothing out of the ordinary. Mostly it’s people who love horses and are from the country, so when they saw a horse in the city it made them feel at home.

me: Fair enough, horses are cool. I only came a few feet close to one, face to face, since I’ve been here in Oregon. They are so docile. So, the horses gallop still?

Scott: It does. I put 10 or so out with my mom a few weeks ago. It was some nice bonding time. She was really surprised and enjoyed the connections that we made with pretty much every who walked by. However, I don’t put many horses out these days. The project has taken on a life of its own, and most of the horses that are out and about now have been installed by other people.

me: Very cool. I enjoy the domestic cross between art and leisure. Well, it’s great to see the attention given to the lil’ guys. Very much in keeping with the whole concept of ‘relational aesthetics’, yes?

Scott: Ok.

me: Speaking of which, didn’t you just recently meet up with Harrell Fletcher’s class?

Scott: Yes. Harvest and I took a few orders of nachos to Harrell and his class of grad students in the new MFA in the social practice program. That was great. Then it somehow prompted Harrell and his undergrad class to ask if they could come observe a math class at the high school where I teach. The Nachos were the third event in a project Harvest and I are doing called, “The Nachos Project.” We have a date in December with Steph Snyder.

me: Can you say anything about this ’spicy ritual’?

Scott: The first two were with Joe and Annette Thurston, and Bruce Conkle and Marne Lucas.

me: Is this a potluck with friends?

Scott: It’s a wide open project. Very loose with no real rules aside from 1) we take nachos and 2) we all talk and 3) they have to come up with some form of documentation. We’re going to invite a lot of people in the new year to let us bring them nachos.

me: On this eve of thanks, knowing that my Tofurkey Day will be filled with sushi, I must note that I heart nachos.

Scott: We must bring you nachos Mr. Norris. January?

me: Ba-ring it!

Scott: Cool, you get to request where you want them from too.

me: Oh, you don’t make them?

Scott: No. We buy them.

me: Wow, that’s wild.

Scott: We are wild.

me: Special orders don’t upset you?

Scott: No, not in the slightest. It’s all good. Just don’t send me to Beaverton.

me: Bonified! Now, how was LA? You had a show with Harvest? You worked on the GEO Chain?

Scott: Yes and yes. It went well. It was my first show outside of Portland, Harvest’s second.

me: Where at?

Scott: Little Bird Gallery is a pretty sweet space down there and I felt lucky to get to show down there. Or, fortunate.

me: Tell me about your work?

Scott: The paintings are sort of an evolution, I hope, from abstractions I was working on a few years ago. I’m interested in composition, and basically creating an expression of something that I inherently feel is within me that I either can’t express with words, or am too scared to express with words, even to myself.

me: Was this a two-person show?

Scott: Yeah, 2 person show, me and the H Bomb.

me: A first?

Scott: Our very first show was at an Everett Station space called Pepper run then by Daniyel Hicks, a good friend of ours. That was a 2 person she, her and me as well. Nothing since then. That’s, a 2 person show

me: Oh yes. Is Pepper still around? I saw Daniyel playing a live music show recently.

Scott: No, it’s not. He plays in a band called Cicada Omega comprised of his pals from Kentucky.

me: Yeah, there was also a guy in his band who I used to see who works at OHSU - steel guitar and all. Anyway, I digress. How was your work received down yonder?

Scott: There were something like 65 openings that night across L.A., but we still had a pretty good turnout. TJ, I’m going to be honest with you, people loved the work.

me: Figures! What was the word? Like did people buy them up…were they chatting you up? Did they talk deep psycho analytics with you til dawn?

Scott: I was sort of withdrawn. Some people said they saw motion in the work. Out of the 5 pieces in the show, only none sold. Harvest sold a piece though. We’re still somewhat optimistic. About sales. I’m not as excited about painting as I used to be. I am going to do an installation at Ogle in April, and I can’t wait.

me: Did you see Stephen Slappe’s show Character at Tilt this month? What does excite you?

Scott: Yes, love Stephen’s show. Also met him for the first time. I’m often saying to my class something like, “everyone think of an elephant right now,” and then I point out how they all have different pictures in their heads, yet we all agree on what an elephant is. Small time psychology or philosophy or whatever, but still fun. I thought Slappe’s show played that same game, only including a drawing test.

me: It reminded me of some ideas you shared with me is all.

Scott: What excites me: making people smile and laugh while causing a pause for reflection at the same time. Oh yeah, I forgot about those ideas! Yeah, I’ve abandoned those ideas for the Ogle show.

me: OK then. It was my first thought when I entered, as you would well imagine. So tell me anything else on the horizon…

Scott: Show at Ogle in April which I keep mentioning. And basically trying to get people to do the coloring book pics, nachos project, add to the geo chain, maybe a new project or two in the months ahead - - - someone named Mary Boone called the other day about something in Chelsea, but I’m not sure if I’m feeling up to it.

me: ok…aha…er…Well, any questions for me before I wish you a healthy feast?

Scott: Yes, of course.

me: Hit me.

Scott: This class you’re teaching that I wish I could take but can’t, what’s one or two personal goals that you have for it? And, do you think the cost of an art piece is fused with its meaning? Or, instead of an art piece, the cost of any object. (Think fake Rollex vs. real Rollex.)

me: Would you mind rephrasing the second part of that questions and reverse it? I think my goal is to get a larger dialogue going, whether it be through more quantifyable, academic writing (and thinking), as well as simply growing the cultural dialect, even if from scratch.

Scott: Ok, when it comes to an artist like Jeff Koons, do you think it’s relevant to discuss the prices of his art when discussing its cultural or philosophical value?

me: That certainly has something to do with it, yes. Value is a multi-splendored thing. It’s universal, the wallet that is.

Scott: You don’t think that detracts from it somehow? I agree with you in that I think an object is meaningfully placed in a culture, subjectively, and its value in the culture will largely shape its meaning.

me: We agree to agree then?

Scott: A counter argument is that bringing how much things cost into the discussion is not only irrelevant, but detracting from the more interesting discussion. But yeah, we agree.

me: I think a $3M photo is worth discussing from that perspective yes. It puts an artist in a different tax bracket after all. Perhaps radically alters lifestyles? I mean, I assume you have to give up food stamps at that point?
But the meaning and impact of the work is universally separate, yes. Anything else to share?

Scott: I’d like to thank Harvest for putting up with me all these years, and Abi and TJ for supporting me so much all this time. Also, I’d like to thank Harrell and Brad for responding to my semi-harassing emails, asking them questions because they are geniuses. I’d like to thank Gavin at the Portland Art Center as well as Joe and Annette Thurston. I’d also like to thank everyone in the coloring book. Also Mylissa down at Little Bird, and Andrea out at AZ West. Sofia with Current TV and Richard Speer for being such a rock star all the time. Thanks to the Pardue’s as well as P Middy and the Portland Horse Project Team. Thanks also to Bruce Conkle, Chris Brown, my agent Gella Dellar, also thanks to Jane Beebe. It’s been one heck of a ride and I wish to express that dreams really do come true. Thank you Portland.

me: peace, out.

Scott: Hah, ok. Bye

Aqua, Nada, Basel, Rubell, Flow, Pulse, Scope…..No, I am not cheerleading! Tis’ the season for the major Miami Art Fairs.

As the fog rolls in over the hills, here’s looking forward to traipsing along the warm sands of South Beach two weeks from today. This marks my first time ever to this part of the country. I’ve really become fond of the more cragged landscape of mountains and rivers, but it will be a wonder to be alongside the Atlantic Ocean once again. And since I’ve yet to reserve a place to stay in a nearly sold-out atmosphere of deluxe accomodations, I may just have to set up a pup-tent on the beach

There’s so much to see and do while there I will have to make an extra effort to actually take in the local color, and I know there’s a big Cuban population, so I will just have to force myself from the magnetic prongs of the contemporary art world to see and eat with the natives. When I travel I’m a bit of a purest, not one for a completely fabricated experience of a place, I like the nitty gritty (so, of course I will also bring my camera). I’ve heard much about this place, and am a bit curious about its austentacious side as a cultural explorer, not to mention I hear lots about kickin’ mojitos and expansive views. While in Miami I am pleased to announce that I am being interviewed by Miami Art Exchange editor Onajídé Shabaka for a related podcast. The plan is to attend many events with a few creative friends travelling from PDX, BOS and NYC with whom I will also take in some bright nightlife. I’ll also get to area museums and the highly regarded Margulies Warehouse as well. I’m intrigued to see Versace’s House, Casa Casuarina, on Ocean Drive. And though I travel rather light, I shall have my laptop in tow, so expect a transmission or two about my daily experiences from the other coast.

If you make it down you may spy M_US__EUM lighting the way, as generously hosted by Quality Pictures at the Aqua Miami Hotel. Do stop by.

There is something about blue. What is it? A whole lotta something. Yes, even in this era of Bluetooth® and Blu-Ray™, I realized this as I spun a latent mix of New Order’s Blue Monday (I’ll never forget the 12″ wax cover art resembling a floppy disc or something neo-geo retro-futuristic). There was Miles Davis‘ indellible classic Kind of Blue, the Jet of choice, the toilet paper toting Blue Man Group, Yves Klein’s (IKB) inventive use of color, songs about the moon, G.I.s, a bayou, and suede shows, and of course the whole genre called the blues. And that obscure last film by Derek Jarman, as a filmmaker who had literally lost his vision. It makes me think about the lil’ dashed lines of DNA testing, and how it crept effortlessly and ambiguously into new drawing work (as in Species I and II), or like color bars in tones rather than primaries. It makes me think of the primaries (the red and the blue, if you know what I mean).

I GOT THE BLUES AGAIN
wav.2 (2007) has found a home. This large-scale photographic work (60×42) and particular favorite, went to a private collector this week. It’s a unique image (I am not much for editions, yeah - one of “those” photographers).The work in various shades of blue distinctively abstracts advertising campaigns of major corporations, in a montage using the power of nature (water). Of course the work is not about this blatant bastardization, rather it shifts the intent/focus of the original to simplify the subliminal macro of the everyday, focusing instead on a curvature of lines with an almost decorative mirror effect. Its title integrates my larger field interest in how sound and image are often experientially seamless, even when absent from each others’ sources, retaining a certain ambience. The two pieces I shipped to Artists Space, Plexus 8.0 and 8.1 use various shades of layered blue inks and gouache to dissect a supercollider in space. The work I am donating to the Portland Art Center in its time of need (you can do your part through a special WWeek promotion) is called The Forest (for the trees) and also employs the blues in a field of white and repetitious criss-crossing circles.

WHAT’S IN A COLOR?
You tell me. In this season of colors (”Blue Christmas” comes to mind), is it just another primary color? Huh? What do you think?

“This is only a test…” (testing the waters so to speak)

wave_test (image taken from Cracked Compass, w/Gallery Homeland)

The Washington Post reports…

Though I am a supporter of the visionary of Dennis Kucinich, you gotta give this man something for having the cahones (or at least a nod for spending the dough where the people eat it up, fried or raw cookie-style).

PS: No relation.

ArtNet reports on next year’s selectees for The Whitney Biennial, the single, most sought-after American survey of artists in our land. Attending for my very first time last year held a few surprises. It was exciting to discover Marilyn Minter and to see the master Kenneth Anger celebrated for his innumerable contributions to the fine art of cinema. A special kick to see some folks I have peripherally gotten to know like Jim O’Rourke and Momus finally getting recognition on this side of the fence. This upcoming year they chose my former hometown bud DJ Olive in the mix. But most exciting is that the early ‘07 visit to our humble studios produced some fine pickins indeed. The organizers have harvested from our very own crop in the form of M.K. Guth for this rendition. This is super exciting for many reasons, but take into account the final list of selectees (Sherrie Levine, John Baldessari, Louise Lawler, Spike Lee….) and the stakes seem quite high, especially since a very large majority of the selections come from either LA or NYC. Guth is the sole artist representing the entire Pacific Northwest, and with very good company here. As a bit of a chameleon, her work truly crosses the divide between relational aesthetics and conceptual, postmodern media hybrids (video, sculpture, photography). It gives me hope to keep tinkering away in the studio (after all, 2010 is the year I hope to make contact!). The NY Times also chimes in on how the show will spill outside its confines. PNCA released this PR.

Maybe I have been in earshot of much talk radio of late? Conservative or liberal, the partisan lines are always pretty clear. The din sort of shuts my brain down. To awaken it I made several trips to the studio this week. While there, among other things, I played Chris Watson’s new 7″ vinyl Pacificus Oceanus, recorded in the Galapagos. Watson, a notable sound recordist has been at it since the 70’s and was a founding member of two of my absolute top sound projects including Cabaret Voltaire and The Hafler Trio. The ending lockgroove can just play on infinitely, and it brings my practice into a very centered space after a week of politico talking heads. The studio time also brought about finishing touches to the works I am donating to two fundraiser events (I’ve been asked to donate for six events), Night of 1000 Drawings and PDX Panels. A bi-coastal debut of this work in December, and for a good cause. Of course, both efforts were specially made for these events, so the one piece for the Portland Art Center’s event (12/6, 6-10PM) is on a provided plywood square panel, and the Artist’s Space (12/13, 5-10PM) piece(s) are each small works on paper measuring approximately 11″ x 14″ - smaller than nearly all I’ve been making since early Summer. Both worthy causes, and great affordable opportunities to purchase something for collectors.

ACTION!: Earlier in the week I went to the cinema to see Michael Clayton. The film stars a down-on-his-luck George Clooney as a well-oiled criminal lawyer playing a ‘janitor’ who basically bails out people with power/money. He tries to find logic and justice in a very oddball case, involving a superior legal mind played by the brilliant Tom Wilkinson who’s gone slightly off the deep end. Separately their mission is to uncover truths well hidden and make up for lost time before a behemoth pharmaceutical company signs a bajillion dollar deal, sealing the fate of many of its former customers (and I mean former, like, ahem, dead). Tilda Swinton, always a favorite of the screen doesn’t disappoint as the icy CEO bi-atch of uNorth, the said drug dealer. There are more twists and turns than you would imagine while eating Twizzlers, sipping an appletini from a swirlie straw and driving downhill on SF’s Lombard Street with a cellphone in one hand during heavy fog. A must for crossword puzzlers and fans of all things Agatha Christie, just a tad darker.

During lunch just yesterday at the Side Door I was inspired to see three young artists all converging in the same space on a rainy Friday afternoon, Tim Dalbow, Kimber Shiroma and Troy Briggs. I love unspoken gathering spots and the place has a certain neighborly magic (save for the amped-up Retriever Towing in their backlot - don’t ever park there - this is their hotspot and the building owner must be in cahoots with them - it’s a racket as has been said). Speaking of magic, along with Paul and some friends, the PDX Movie of the Week group re-convened for the first time in three months to see the first G-rated movie in eons, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. This is a perfect holiday flick. It’s got the spirit of Willy Wonka, and the sparkle of classic Disney. I really enjoyed it. It’s probably the best thing I’ve seen septegenerian Dustin Hoffman in since Rain Man (he wasn’t bad in Perfume, it was the NY accent that was terribly out of place). He is perfect for the lead role as the wild haired Tuscan leather shoe-wearing owner of a super magical toy store. It deals literary nostalgia quite well, bringing back memories of my first time stepping foot into F.A.O. Schwarz, many moons ago.

Yes, I may be travelling to Miami for the art fairs in early December, but how badly do you think I would like to make a left hand turn in St. Louis to head towards the largest contemporary arts center in America situated in Western Massachusetts? With Jenny Holzer’s Projections and the always amazing Kiefer - Very!

>>> CLICK <<<

SMELL YOU: Is that Chanel in your boudoir, or are you just unhappy to see me? Smells fishy…like teen spirit? No, try the scent of steel wheels - that’s right, some cocoction that ends in skid marks! Is that the new way to one’s heart? Yes, it would seem that the l’artisan parfumeurs of Aurélien Guichard have whipped up a purely stinky batch of Silver Factory with the supervision of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and Bond no. 9. They are concocting a line of fragrances that come from favorites of Warhol’s own nose, this one including the spicy essences of grapefruit, wood resin, amber jasmine, cedarwood and violet. At $230 clams (good thing it doesn’t smell like em) for a stinkin’ 3oz. bottle I guess I’ll just have to get the drift upstream.

Jockohomo reports…

Laura Fritz’s current work has a certain biomorphic sensibility. Translucent and podlike, these rooted, sluglike objects are surrounded by walls of angular mylarplex that are situated inside library glass cases. The housing captures the spirit of a micro funhouse crossbred with hints at the endless duplicitousness in work by artists like Josiah McElheny. These showcases have been made to appear terrarium-like or some unfamiliar experimental bio-chamber. Fritz creates a stage for the audience to view from small square portals, one per each side of these ten foot vitrines. I found the adjacent, readily available library scientific periodicals, reference materials and biology monthlies in some way quite sly, if potentially unintentional. An in-situ appropriation, investigating the specificity of place. Fritz who has used video, magnetized kinetics and other manipulations to cause movement in the past repeats a series of immobile (or frozen) forms in her most pert and visually appealing work to date. If you are reading this, stop by Reed College’s Library (right by the Cooley Gallery) to check it out.

Sunday on the Pot with George (acrylic on canvas by Anonymous)

You’ve heard of MOCA, COCA, MOMA, ICA, ICP, IBM (etc)…but have you heard of MOBA? That stands for the Museum of Bad Art - and their tagline is “art too bad to be ignored”! I almost forgot about this lil’ gem of a museum-that-could, taking me back to my glory days in Beantown into my present dealings in cafelicious Stumptown. Speaking of which - lately, as I sit for lunch or a cuppa joe there’s always this feeling that the walls around me are closing in, covered in such shite. Nevertheless, here you have an institution of sorts that’s wrangled through the years (since 1993) and they are still kickin’ it in downtown Dedham (MA) and have forever been embroiled in much controversy. Their collections are derived from the side of the road and the best bins at Goodwill. One look at their Spam-meets-toilet cozy aesthetic may give you an insight into their wisdom - or at least a lil’ chuckle. They even published a catalogue of their permanent collection. It may not be featured in Foder’s, but if you like random fodder, you’ll love this place.

CONTROL. That’s the new film by Anton Corbijn. It’s black and white and Factory all over. A lovely homage as written by Deborah Curtis (Touching from a Distance) the widow of lead singer of Joy Division, Ian Curtis (played uncannily by Sam Riley, save the slight Jim Morrison intonation in his singing voice). The film, a few years in the making, tells a personal tale of a dark Brit pop/rock sensation at a crossroads in his youth. Frustrated with a life of domestic isolation in Macclesfield, with dreams of Bowie and Roxy Music dancing in his head, he sets off on his own wild adventure. As a 20 year old, he and his band were signed to a record label, hitting the charts and poised to tour the US. But with love in the wings, an estranged family life being tossled about and stardom at his feet, life became a rich conundrum for a young man in the spot. The irony of a singer by night having a day job, at the Employment Division of all places, during a major job crisis in the UK is classic. But Curtis’ moonlighting soon catches up with him as his supervisor, and the world takes notice.

The range of expertly realized celluloid in all its glorious gray tonal values is lustrous and fills the silver screen with a certain vibrant breath not seen since Jim Jarmusch’s 1986 classic underground film Down By Law*. The blacks are real rich and dark, the subtler tones waft like the smoke rings from the cigarette smoke billowing from the lips of the lead. The film seduces with its visual plot structure, moreso fluid and sparse in narrative than normally found in other personality (star) type pictures. Casting an entire film with practical unknowns, who fit the parts to a ‘t’ - also added a lovely mystique. A poignant background story making an iconically shrouded figure in the British pop scene look at times like a father, at times like a rebel, and at odds with his radical medical condition. All of the supporting cast are bright and funny when necessary - somber and edgy to fill the proper voids. This will be a memorable work of cinema catalyzing the emergent music of the late 70s.

* Incidentally, Corbijn has photographed Tom Waits, one of the stars of that film, multiple times over the years.

Though the filmmaker has made some incredible long-form stylish video work for bands like Depeche Mode and U2, this in no way plays like anything featured on MTV. And for an early teen (and fan) at the time, I can remember all of this quite vividly. The film captured the era with its brash quirks and sense of noir dissonance. “Love will tear us apart, again”….

• • •

Poignant thoughts on the film by daughter Natalie Curtis (from The Guardian).

Deconstructing Criticism
w/TJ Norris @ Newspace Center for Photography
Five Tuesdays :: 1/8 - 2/5 :: 6:30-9:30pm :: $195

SIGN UP NOW

(from Newspace Winter 2008 catalogue)
What’s that you say? Not quite sure where you’re going as an artist? Need a little direction, guidance, advice, and inspiration? In this five-part class, multimedia artist and curator TJ Norris will guide you through the process of engaged critique. It’s simple to say, “I love that” or, “I hate that,” and much more difficult to really express why. This class is a great chance to go beyond semantics and lip-service and to give your thoughts some teeth. As art can often be subjective, direction will be both creative and analytical with a focus on discussing each student’s own creative work in progress. Through peer review, supportive feedback, individually focused assignments, and a fun gallery field trip, you’ll develop the tools necessary to better understand and articulate your work – and the work of others. This is a wonderful chance to gain invaluable insight into what you’re doing as an artist and to study with a true leading light in the regional arts scene. This class should attract artists and critical thinkers. Limited to 8

* The button in my mouth was handed to me by Hilary Pfeifer and reads “words are my secret weapon” - evidentally it’s one of many phrases used to advertise this year’s Wordstock running through 11/11.

The mysteriously foggy drive through the dark added to the perplexing end point to last eve’s journey into night. The destination, the Art Gallery at Linfield College for Usufruct, curated by foArm Magazine co-editors Matt Marble and Seth Nehil. It’s an eclectic mix of works by artists near and far, with a peculiar intersection of media including fake fur, thread, a covered film projector, cardboard packaging and live plants. There’s a certain statement about living things, both animal and vegetable. And disectable narratives that go along with their individual lifelines. Birds, bling, petals and the subtle gesture. The curators have been ultra sensitive to infuse the show with kinetics and sound at every corner, and while doing so have managed to incorporate fourteen artists into a medium-sized space while still allowing for breathing room. The show balances the fragilities of ecosystems constantly dividing nature and humanity.

Works by Rebecca Davis (needles and thread), Dan Senn (a multipart audio floor installation) and one of Melody Owen’s two video works called MGM Lion seemed the most physically alluring, balanced by the narratives in works by Harvest Henderson (also showing in LA this month, as well as Ogle in Portland) and Dirk Lange’s Estonian collages titled Imagine How Much Fun We Could Have Had. Other pieces took the object out of context of place like curator/artist Rhoda London’s Untitled floor piece with photo transfers on glass illuminated from a centering lighting element dangling from the ceiling, like some sort of audubon reliquary. Upon entry in a glass wall case, performance writer and maker of things, Bethany Wright’s Hallowed, made from basic ingredients like soap, wax and hair conditioner, gives you the immediacy of a visceral gross-out. In many ways her style of working really always conjured something quite physical in its inferences. References of the insides of the body, often something viscous, of the touch, something fluid. This piece deals in the oral extraction, or that which we reject.

In the show there are works that hang from the ceiling, emerge from the floor and walls and corners, or some combination thereof. The curators have truly used the space to invoke movement and spatial relationships. That aside, the work as a whole comes with weighty conceptual conundrums that field domestic neighborly concerns (Henderson’s Specimens i-iv: Starla’s Garden - Document of Abandoned Narrative) to the containment of the fragments of coccooned nature in Linda Hutchins‘ Jade Plant, a bit of a reclamation (or resurrection) of natural things kept whole by the process of ‘contemporary mummification’. Delicate by nature and pointed by truth. The show has its points of alluding its viewer in works by both Sreshta Premnath (Point Decapit___on) and Joshua Hart (_iso_) which each use objects like a cloth covered and running 16MM projector (Premnath) or a fake fur coat attached to distorted graphite drawings (Hart). Interesting to note their use of text titles, and how language has a strong bearing on the curatorial selections, given their literary roots in the formal and segmented nature of how text/context are interpreted through works such as this.

It was both Senn’s and Davis’ work that were without pun, most sound. Senn’s Cradle: Cross dealt in a sort of improv secretive gamelan, powered by digitally produced sinewaves that had a nervous gesture played on metallic plates. While Davis’ Untitled (green thread) had a simple floating ambience that delicately floats weightlessly and linearly from a perfectly installed fine line of sewing needles. The color green shifts from end to end with subtle variations like the colors coming into the light of the sun. Owen’s work had a spot of humor, often a good balancer in a show with such elegance and simplicity. Her work MGM/Lion (2004) a digital video plays on the endless roaring of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s age-old motif. Here, though, she has silenced the mighty voice of this empirical king of the cinematic forest and instead replaced it with cartoon jewels or bling being visually expurgated from the fearsome cat’s mighty jaws. It’s cute at first, but comes to a boil in time. Therefore adding to the weight of this otherwise luminous little show. But remember: I am big, it’s the pictures that got small…..

The tall and short of it all.

While walking to the bus stop I noticed a hummingbird a few doors down yesterday. Seeking nectar at this point in the season seemed unusual, when nearly all the leaves have fallen and things have dried up. Such a special and fleeting occurence. Perhaps there was a message of hope as I watched his tiny blackened emerald body with its pearlized sheen. It’s hard to take your eyes off of these beauties, yet, it’s really difficult to spot them. They appear almost oddly ethereal and mechanical at the same time.

Less fleeting have been some of the wonderful get togethers of late. Last week I had a pleasant spot of iced tea with painter Leiv Fagereng who shows at Froelick Gallery. We met through a mutual friend and had a great time talking about east vs. west coast, the pictorial vs. conceptual, sense of place and a whole lot about the biz of art. His take was new to me, refreshing. He moved to Portland from Seattle a few years ago and shares a studio with his sculptor/brother Daniel (who I actually showed with a few years back). He was the first person to actually convince me that even I could afford to eat at Blue Hour. See you at happy hour soon!

It’s always a good occasion to see Avantika Bawa who was in Portland for the second time this year, this time presenting her Sit, Stack at PSU’s Autzen Gallery (now coordinated by Tilt Gallery & Project Space’s Jenene Nagy). Sometimes I think our brains were split at birth (only about ten years apart). First I got to hear her talk which was done at the gallery where the installation was just starting to take shape. She talked about some of her projects in Canada, Atlanta and recently in her native India, all using the permitting environment as a jumping off point for her site-specific sculptural/drawing hybrids in space. This new show is quite sparse using the chair as a recurring motif and the elements of gravity to encompass the room in repetitive shapes and angles. Her opening was good fun, with red wine, conversation and gathering a crowd of local aesthetes for a group photograph. From there a selection of people, including a cast of artists from Tilt dashed to Dots for the sate of a greasy spoon feed.

Which brings me up to date to just yesterday seeing Ryan Jeffery. It was great to catch up with him, and savor his follow-up to his gorgeous video work Fallen, which is called Rise to be screened publicly on exhibition at PDX Contemporary very soon. After a recent tour in Japan, he’s got interesting navigational changes on his radar too and I wish him much good. While we were sitting there enjoying coffee in walked Troy Briggs and good conversation just expanded. It was great that we all knew each other, reducing the degrees of separation quotient in Portland’s art community. I learned that Troy is now living and working in the same area where my studio is, so hopefully we will see each other more often than when he was out in St. Johns. He recently had a show at the Black Front Gallery in Olympia. We talked about studio space, jobs, artist lifestyles and food stamps. You’ve only begun to see and hear about these two young artists.

The majority of the week was spent working on about ten new works on paper, including a quad of part drawing/collages I think I’m calling ‘clusters’. More on these as the work develops.

Later today the plan is to head off to McMinnville’s Linfield College to see Usufruct, a fresh group show curated by media artist Seth Nehil and Matthew Marble (co-editors of FO A RM Magazine) which includes Harvest Henderson and others. From the statement: “In appropriating resources (physical or intellectual), how are they transformed? What are the ways we navigate this tension, leading toward a vital suspension?”….Away I go!

SAVE THE DATE….