INFO: Yann Novak / Dragon’s Eye Recordings

 

 Yann Novak [30:17m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

PDX INK: The indelible isms overfloweth in the account earmarking Portland as a big cultural gentrification phenomenon in today’s NY Times. As you may or may not know this, my own work stems from such fragile issues (”My City Was Gone”). I’ve seen an increase of people of color ’round these parts, but not like in other major cities. Maybe white folks tend to congregate under gray clouds to keep their color(?), I think not. The story has a bearing ring to it. [Photo ©Brian Lee/NY Times]

The week rolls on. This was my fortune at lunch yesterday. Funny, of all days to open this was the same day a broken-hearted old friend blogged about me anonymously. It all came out in the wash, but the sum of all parts never added up to less than its equivalent. That said, tonight I am not going to party like its 2099! That’s right, M-nus is minus Richie Hawtin (see here: Holocene). But don’t let that dissuade you - even though having ye olde Plastikman seemed too good to be true. I have some friends coming up and down the coast to see this….but the show is now FREE and both Magda and Heartthrob are two of the labels most exciting and best artists, so be there.

Heartthrob (that’s him in the haus courtesy of my crappy cam-phone) ruled the dancefloor on SE Morrison last night. Truly smooth action, dappled and wavering cryptic palette of sweet beats. Magda was harder edge than ever. She was having fun and grooving deep and loud. The M-Nus crew will be back with Mr. Hawtin in tow on August 27th.

BE COUNTED: In what promises to be an amazing visual fea(s)t, Horatio Hung Yan Law will present Tai Chi for 1,000 as part of the AiR Program on the South Waterfront this Saturday, May 31 from 10-11:30AM. In advance you can warm up this evening from 6-8PM with a tai chi workshop taking place in the beautiful new John Ross Tower at 3623 SW River Parkway (@ Gaines). If you wish to participate in the warm up RSVP to horatiolaw@gmail.com. To get there click here.

PS: The warmer was great last night, especially as a first timer tai chi’r. With a group of about 15 or so we moved about in the many instructed positions in a comfortable environment. Horation also gave a slide talk on Chinese immigrants in Oregon which lent some history and context to his residency in the program.

Ralph Steinbrüchel has teamed up with both Room40 and Cronica to bring you an amazing downloadable live set from the Offf Festival (recorded earlier this month in Lisbon).

While sitting in on Paranoid Park by Gus Van Sant last night something so subtle hit me, he’s queer like me. The film is a whisper, it just purrs, and this director’s approach with the camera undulates in a way that flows with the lean characters that fill the screen. The story is hardly narrative, really more a palindrome, and Ethan Rose’s soundtrack couldn’t be more fitting. Van Sant (currently working on Milk) will be in attendance alongside Rob Epstein, director of the twenty-four year old Academy Award winning The Times of Harvey Milk which is included in a film fest that opens this week. This film was quite important to me in the day, as you might imagine. The upcoming Portland Queer Documentary Film Festival was put together by Russ Gage and David Weissman, running from May 29-June 1 at the Clinton. There’s an Italian movie about the life of Keith Haring, Gwen Haworth’s She’s A Boy I Knew and several other interesting sounding flicks. Be there, be queer…get used to it.

These are new works made from nickel silver, called Cluster on view this month at Berlin’s Galerie Eigen + Art by Carsten Nicolai who I recently met again in San Francisco during the Raster-Noton set I blogged about. The show is called Tired Light.

This is an installation of orbs (and a photo/lightbox panel) both originally created in 2003 for my exhibition Genometrics. The last existing orbs are on view and available at [NAAU] through June 22. I enjoyed the similarities in form and the differences in material application.

Though I honor the memory of those passed, I am not at all connected to war heroism and all that jazz. The weekend spent in Seattle, however, captured a new spirit in the air. The weather was amazingly comfortable, and I got to see plenty of our sister city that I hadn’t in prior visits, including bubble tea on Alki Beach, West Seattle, fine record shoppes (found the new Hot Chip disc for $5.79!) and desserteries like the B&O and Bakery Nouveau. I stayed at the very nicely appointed Barclay Court and celebrated in style by choosing some fine eateries like Kingfish, Coastal Kitchen, Lemongrass, Crave and Cafe Flora. The weekend was culturally well-rounded with visits to the amazing new James Harris, the Henry, Western Bridge, Howard House, the Frye, Lawrimore Projects and several galleries, and Parlor F! Many an espresso has been consumed. Here’s a quick scan…

The Oregonian reports

It’s hump day all over this great land, and what a better call to action than spending an afternoon with Monsieur Keith Boadwee (oui oui). He’s up from San Francisco. We enjoyed a nice Vietnamese lunch and some light shopping, a latte and then he asked if I would push play at [NAAU]. 45 minutes later he emerged. Now it’s time to try him out this weekend at the opening of his new show, This is a Low at the Rock’s Box on NE Interstate. I mused that our showcards were polar opposites, he agreed. Ruffle your feathers at the reception on Saturday night 7-11PM.

Richard Speer reports..

TJ the DJ spins it. Get on up on the dance floor y’all.

 

 Minimix by TJtheDJ [33:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

1-2-3 > JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN: If you don’t believe me, check out the first few seasons of Supernatural (he played the dad of Dean and Sam Winchester, who has now been killed off), Grey’s Anatomy (where he played Denny Duquette who was killed off in ‘07), or the film in which I discovered this rugged handsome being - P.S. I Love You, where the Seattle born 41 year old actor plays Irish pub singer ‘Billy’ Gallagher. Speaking of which…did you know that you can purchase the actual props and clothing from movies? The release of The Accidental Husband w/Uma Thurman has been postponed until August….he plays a fireman. Oh, yes, he di-id! He was even on Rachel Ray OK, so this may not be a normal post for me…call me moody!?

* Special thanks to Dan for re-awakening my memory without having me buy a vowel.

Seattle, October 2007
[from hotel room]

San Francisco, May 2008
[from a convertible]

Through the heatwave and on my way to NAAU to meet with PAM’s Photography Council today I spied that Mark Lindsay’s Rock & Roll Cafe has packed up and ‘reluctantly’ closed their doors. It was a bit of a shock to see this new place no more. I just moved to the neighborhood and folks that I talked to said it was mediocre to OK, but I was planning to dine upon my return from California, but no need now. It seemed to give a hint of glamour and potential to this area. I had a great in-depth dialogue with Guy Swanson about my work, he coordinates the Council. The gallery has put up three of my large black and white digital pieces from a series done in ‘06 as well as having images from a previous body of work from ‘05 available. It’s interesting to see the lineage between them and the current exhibition, Infinitus. There’s a similar tonality, and some repeated ideas about perspective, contrast, and more. Here’s looking forward to continued dialogue on the subject. To spread the wealth I’m headed to Seattle next week and Los Angeles in a few, so it’s all about the West Coast for me right now. Branching ever so gently from one’s nest (or boundary) is a more effortless motif in my life these days. With or without resources, I can no longer contain myself. Literally.

Life is moving along here for me, the single man. Never like watching paint dry…It is still Spring after all. But suffice to say I have had the great fortune of meeting some interesting, quality folks in the last few months. The humor, honesty, candor and basic instincts of cordiality have helped take the edge off the greyer side of change.

In other more cultural news, I have completed the curation of the 4th Annual International Juried Exhibition for Newspace Center for Photography as of today. For this I received approximately 325 portfolios (five images per entry). In the initial few rounds I managed to cull down to a grouping of approximately 80 of these entries, ending up with 59 finalists (22 who I notified Newspace to let know I had my eye on them a long while), and from those selected 37 individuals. I must say this was, by and large, my most complex curatorial assignment to date. There is just a lot of very good photography these days, and many that ended up on my shortlist will prove that come July. I’ve selected the actual images that will be on view and artists are being contacted now. There were entries from Japan, Iran, Canada, the UK among other countries and several from across the U.S. Some regional artists made it into the final mix which I am excited about, especially given that a majority of the names are completely unfamiliar to me. I did not look at pedigree or resumes at all. I don’t even know the scale of the work, I hope it all fits. Initially I had a number between 20 and 30 that I wanted to include, but this proves that math and art don’t always mix. Certain unusual themes emerged, and now I will construct an essay about what I experienced in the process of looking as we take the necessary steps towards making a nice little catalogue. Mark your calendars early and often to join us for our unveiling of this bounty of imagery in July.

HOT LITTLE HANDS
Lawn of the Limp
May 29 - 31

KEITH BOADWEE
This is A Low
May 24 - June 22

LUCIER
New Haute Cuisine
Opening Soon - On River Parkway

OK. So, I go to ‘Frisco and I have an amazing time, right? While I am there, one of my true mentors, Robert Rauschenberg past away, and there is a heat wave in the Bay Area - things are topsy turvy from the outset. It wasn’t until I was walking through the De Young Museum, at a fine retrospective of Gilbert & George that it hit me like a ton of bricks. Here I am, an artist who just happens to be a gay man in San Francisco, looking at work by a same sex artist couple. I’ve always associated Rauschenberg with his relationship with Jasper Johns and then with his companion of many years, Darryl Pottorf. Rauschenberg undoubtedly has been an incredible mentor to many, but for me has always been in my heart as a role model of a very independent gay man as well. He was an artist of highest regard, with an ever-changing vision, and one of the few from the great era of pop art who truly evolved and never became a parody of his work. His legend will stand strong.

It was fantastic to get away and back to the California coastline, my first trip down in many years. I was there to meet with my curator/artist friend and host, Robert Crouch who was the Volume Projects presenter of the phenomenal Raster-Noton showcase at the San Francisco Art Institute. The setting was intimate and just right to have an audience of about 200 for this world-class electronic outfit, some traveling distances to see this special one-off performance on this coast before they left for Boston. I spied folks in the audience from the Pacific Northwest (Yann Novak and Kamran Sadeghi were there), and other colleagues (and hard core fans) who often show up at gigs like this, including Decibel, Mutek and Sonar.

We were upgraded to a (hot cha cha) white Mustang convertible (that’s Carsten above in the back seat rear view mirror taking in the streets of San Francisco as we rolled), and it was just the beginning of a stylish three days in and about the city.

Robert was the ultimate host and pretty much thought of everything to make my stay, as well as that of the performers, a very memorable one. Good food, a wonderful party arranged for the artists, including Christopher Willits, David Kwan and though he didn’t show, how exciting was it to see Blixa Bargeld on the short list of potential guests? This is less about dropping names and more a testament to the synergy of this real community which is live and thriving. If you haven’t been to the SFAI please check it out next time your in the city by the bay, it’s a cool setting, of which I received a very complete tour of the grounds and facilities.

The evening skies were brilliant in waves of reds and deep blues, and surprise nearby fireworks led to performances by each individual of the trio Signal (Olaf Bender, Frank Bretschneider and Carsten Nicolai).

Suffice to say, it was an audio/visual feast and a rare opportunity to see these artists as is. And as it were, it was a near perfect sound balance, rhythmically astounding, funky at points, furious at others, and unrelenting with sine waves and minimal beats aplenty. These three revel in the math and mapping of the aural experience, as well as a stunning live video presentation which is in fusion with nearly every click, cut and pop. After their individual sets they played as a trio to much applause and a short and resounding encore. The night was intense and still reverberates with me to a large extent. We finished late night with Vietnamese food and drove the German gents back to their hotel so they could get a few hours rest before boarding a plane at 6AM. I had met them individually over the years and they were gracious and friendly. Please don’t miss them if they come to your city. The real twist happened the previous night when we all went out to the legendary (and soon to fold forever) Trannyshack (it’s even got a film based on this theme evening of drag debauchery)! That’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout. Oh, it was Kate Bush Tribute Night by the way. Why not? It was a warped night of stage antics, much lipstick and a few extra drinks and fun had by all. Check out this serious scene after we closed the place…Robert joked about “Raster Pussycat…”

In conclusion I must say it was hard to leave the sun and fun. I’m a sunburned and sated man in the moment. My senses were again, working overtime, so to speak. Even getting to the airport was a blur as we lost track of the time by indulging in the afternoon: shopping, eating and carrying on. Luckily my flight was mysteriously delayed by an hour. I got to meet some interesting folks, eat like a prince and pretty much indulge in real time.

Completing the Tribryd cycle after six years with the release of Infinitus this past week comes with, of course, an exhalation. In that same breath I am planning to ‘get outta Dodge’. Before that I want to say that my reception this weekend somehow managed to come off very well given that the work itself doesn’t lend itself to a crowd, though over the course of the night I reckon we had somewhere around 200+ visitors. The gallery served a dry white wine and an amazing white orchid tea. The lighting worked, the skies were just appropriately overcast and looming without opening on the crowd that gathered outside. I pretty much stayed ‘on pointe’ in one location the entire evening, which felt right to receive guests and offer light mapping. Many of my colleagues were there, and feedback overflowed. In all, I heard variations on themes of comfort and intimidation, surprise and an elated sensibility. Some astute viewers mentioned things they were reminded of and others said that it was a first time like experience, and others seemed poetically or physically charged. The night was complete when a small group of us headed to the Liberty Glass for a night cap. A memorable evening w/a smooth finish. [Photo courtesy Vadim A.]

Yesterday, with two friends, it was off to explore some of Oregon I have yet to see. And that included breakfast in Albany, a trip to Oregon’s newest state park, Thompson’s Mills located in Shedd, and a long walk through the national wildlife refuge known as Baskett Slough in Dallas. The tour of the mill was actually quite nice, intimate for five guests, and a bit of history of labor and industry. Cranks and old rusty intricate machines, weighing stations, distribution chambers…it was a fantastic throwback to another era. The guide was enthusiastic and seemed to have done her homework. We also couldn’t help noticing the many swallow nests under the eves of the main building. It’s a quirky and wonderful free tour of how things were in the changing industrial age, without many conveniences. The overview depicts how innovation and technology is something we will most likely always take for granted. The surrounding grounds are also lovely to walk about.

We then drove north towards Corvallis and the wildlife refuge (named for George J. Baskett, an early Willamette Valley settler). Upon entry we saw a huge squirrel which we all thought was a mole or some other larger critter. Towards the slough we spied many young fawn grazing in the not so distance. Always a graceful sight, they sort of float away when they see us humans. The walk was through cascading knolls filled with wavy grasses and a blue sky filled with bulbous marshmallow clouds. Many bird variations in the air as we approached the wetland of this 2500 acre area, including some Canadian geese. A perfect Sunday.

Off to ‘Frisco through Friday! I’m heading south on a jet plane to attend a special Volume Projects performance and dinner with the founding gentlemen of Raster-Noton of Germany (Olaf Bender, Frank Bretschneider, Carsten Nicolai). At one point or another in the past half dozen years I have had the pleasure of meeting these men individually, and they will perform this way, as well as in the formation of their trio Signal. These guys bring a whole new meaning to the high art of minimalism within electronic music. I will certainly report upon my return….

Intellectual Property @ A Premium: Writing is hard (wink!). Necessitates time and resources, and all that comes with sensory overload and deprivation. So, I’ve made it easy for you to get your creative juices flowing by inviting your business aboard by placing a small add just to the right of this entry. You can see I now have a few quality supporters (nods), but why not add your name to this premium list of quality purveyors? You do read this blog don’t you? Well, I’m surely not public television or Sally Struthers, but a lil’ slack by way of ads helps me carry on in magical, mystical ways. So, won’t you take a moment to consider the wealth of people who actually read the web these days for news, info and special resources and use your advertising dollars here and now? If you are nodding, then send me an email for the full details. There are plenty of people both reading le blog (almost 100 daily), and downloading the podcast on iTunes (about 800 or so individuals a month). I’m not going to give you the bum’s rush or used car salesman junkyard dog pitch. Just sayin’.

TJ NORRIS: INFINITUS
Sound by C. Renou

@ New American Art Union
922 SE Ankeny Street @ 10th

RECEPTION:
Saturday, May 10th, 6-9PM

May 7 - June 22, 2008
Thursday through Sunday, 12-6PM

We officially open tonight! The work is a 2-channel video lounge and because of the nature of this particular piece, I encourage people to come anytime that is most convenient during its six-week run, a staggered entry. The installation accomodates a limited audience at any given time, the programming itself is continuously non-linear, without a real time beginning or end.

This exhibition marks the final leg in the installation cycle Tribryd (started in 2002), shown prior as Genometrics (Soundvision, 2003) and Nucleo (Chambers, 2005). The original soundtrack (circa ‘02) couldn’t be a more apropos and timely piece titled ‘Land of Confusion’ and was created by French composer, Christian Renou, here greatly extended for the 2008 installation version. The original is still available from Beta-lactam Ring Records (as is the CD/DVD project Trimix, the deconstructed mixes). My related essay, disembodied meditation, was published in 2005 by MIT Press/Leonardo Magazine (Vol. 38, No. 2) as were related stills which appeared in Portland Modern (Issue #3). This is my first solo show in two years, my debut at NAAU, and my sole planned regional exhibition this year.

As always, your feedback is welcome + encouraged.
Be My Guest: Please join me for the reception on May 10 (6-9PM).

Infinitus is ready for its inhabitants. Come lose yourself. In/outside the city.

°°°°°

BLOGOSPHERE
Bunny With a Toolbelt; Once Upon A Fool;
Ultra; Shows of Note; Port; Brad Carlile

Three of these artists play Holocene on May 29. It should be one of the best electronica dance shows in recent history. Don’t miss this one which showcases the best from M-NUS, including founder Richie Hawtin (Plastikman), with the amazing Magda and equally scintillating Heartthrob.

Contakt Contest/Membership Info…

More Info on Massimo & Pierce of Black Sun Productions
* Material may offend people with delicate sensibilities *

 

 Black Sun Productions [78:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Controversial artist Guillermo Vargas Habacuc has come under much scrutiny for his piece “Eres lo que lees” in which the life of a dog is sacrificed in a set gallery situation. Much has been written about the 30 or 50 year old artist (depending on which account you may read) says: “The purpose of the work was not to cause any type of infliction on the poor, innocent creature, but rather to illustrate a point. In my home city of San Jose, Costa Rica, tens of thousands of stray dogs starve and die of illness each year in the streets and no one pays them a second thought. Now, if you publicly display one of these starving creatures, such as the case with Nativity, it creates a backlash that brings out a big of hypocrisy in all of us. Nativity was a very sick creature and would have died in the streets anyway.” I wonder if this is a hoax, and wonder if the images associated are staged - but if it were for real, it has a visceral impact for sure. Supposedly visitors to the exhibition had been free to feed or pet the animal - so there would have been a plot counter. In my opinion, this is probably one of those conceptual pieces that, in fact, does walk the line - but certainly makes you think.

This site offers many photos, this site offers a petition you could sign to stop this project from being presented in the future.

Evolution Control is now issuing these for $20 and say: “If you’re like me, you’re constantly getting asked things like, “Why on earth did you paint that toaster purple and install it on the ceiling?” or “Why do you drive a hearse that looks like a zebra?” Of course, the answer is all too simple: I’m an artist. I’m taking license to make this weirdness. It’s called Artistic License.

I’ve been extremely happy with the results. Now when I show up at art openings, I just flash my ID — I’m an artist! More free wine, please! Even at clubs I present my license as my identification…because, by gum, I’m an artist, just the kind of artist who would be fully licensed. Although this is not legal identification in the government’s eyes, I have presented it on many occasional to security personnel who want “valid ID”. More times than not, they take it! So, it must be valid.”

PS: Albert Hofmann (who first synthesized lysergic acid diethylamide) just died at age 102! “I believe that if people would learn to use LSD’s vision-inducing capability more wisely, under suitable conditions, in medical practice and in conjunction with meditation, then in the future this problem child could become a wonderchild.” — Albert Hofmann (1906-2008)

That is the title of a song by a tres cool new wave band from the early 80’s called the November Group. This reminds me that I subscribe to EMusic, which I love. They simply have things you can’t find elsewhere online. It was great fun to download tracks this weekend by the diverse realms of Black Flag, Gina X and Heartthrob (coming to Holocene soon). I’ve been overly sensitive to the whole listening thing these days and have to refresh my ears to the wealth of the past every once in a while. This partly did the trick. Continuing the trend, today was the start of Cinco de Mayo and I celebrated by taking on a very hot Latin lover type energy today. No further details are available herein at this time, but lest I leave it simply seasoned as a thought for an all ages audience. And last night I managed to step out with a few new friends to The Eagle - first time in a men’s bar in at least three years - and I had a great time among many familiar fuzzy faces (and others who caught my eye for the first time)! When you are deep into a relationship you can lose yourself in the daily domestic (mind you, I’m not really the free-wheeling wild-style single dude type), and this was liberating to be among other regular guys for a while. And it’s a non-smoking joint which makes me purr.

In celebration of getting Infinitus ready for prime time I am headed to San Francisco days after my opening for a special evening among the folks of Raster-Noton. We will have dinner with the artists and be treated to a very special sole West Coast performance that my friend Robert Crouch of Volume Projects presents. So I am in the Bay Area for only two days, so I will have to make it to some galleries, Yerba Buena and my favorite haunt, Amoeba (the world’s largest independent record shoppe). I hope I don’t leave my heart there.

THURSDAY: Somehow I managed to squeeze from installation proceedings to catch a glimpse of 1st Thursday offerings this week, though I got a later start because I had a wonderful first day of install - it was the ‘tech rehearsal’ and my first time on a scissorlift. I want to thank the whole team and, in particular, Shannon of NW Sun Solutions for stepping up to the plate to offer the best result for transforming the space into an instant darkroom. They did an amazing job. I’m also very fortunate to be working with Todd Payton of NW RV & Sunscreens and Bobby Jones of Puddle City Productions. They were my main team today and simply amazing gentlemen, instrumental in helping future audiences have an a/v experience to remember. They installed the screen that Todd and his dad fabricated, it fit the design perfectly. Bobby did some basic testing of the projections, and we are back on Sunday for that. Later that day Ruth Ann and I managed to retrieve the installation’s rear element and illuminate it temporarily, and after some basic adjustments - it looks better than anticipated (thanks to Diedrich Dassenbrock who is somewhere in colorful New Mexico).

Later in the day I had the pleasure to dine at siblings Rose and Jason McCormick’s new Liberty Glass at 938 N. Cook Street (right off Mississippi, in the former location of Lovely Hula Hands - lil’ pink house). Rose is one of my five colleagues at NAAU, and she’s really growing as a fantastic painter - now she’s developing my palette, by serving contemporary comfort food, home cookin’ w/a twist. Yes, they have a full bar (w/fantastic, interesting beer - like the yummy chocolate stout I had) as well as their soon to be famous “Rainbow Mac n’ Cheese” which is to die for (though living is recommended, because you’ll want more). It came with a fresh field green salad and a peppery scone-like shell outside/fluffy inside biscuit that was just perfect. Though they have a nice variety, there is a leaning towards veggie/vegan healthy choices that are filling and priced right. 5PM-2:30AM - 7 Days! A destination.

The First Thursday art walk followed and was filled with a wealth of eye-popping work this month. Particular favorites are Laurie Danial at Froelick, Amanda Wojick at Leach, the haunting of Roger Ballen at Quality Pictures, and the Zeitgeist group show at Pulliam-Deffenbaugh (one of the better group shows in that space I’ve seen, celebrating 20 years!). Oh, yes, and the eye-popping Supermodel by Davis & Neidhardt at the Blackfish was a nice surprise too (Le Mona Lisa never had it this good). Don’t miss LA’s Rebecca Ripple at Tilt, it’s a wiry clean show that updates some Italian sculptural masters, freefloating and rhythmical. Also arts writers out there take heed: someone should consider doing a smart piece on the small handful of archival photography technique shows that just rose up this month (three that include works by Newspace director Chris Bennett), led by the tight New Antiquarians at Chambers (put together by gallery mainstay Sika Stanton), a stunning travelling group show with orotones, tintypes and more organized by Laura Moya at 23Sandy, a deep and contrasty travelogue series by Bennett at Pushdot, and a show of double takes from the past with unusual contemporary installation-based twists by Stephen Berkman at Blue Sky. There is no photography convention in town at the moment, so the fact that these shows are co-existing is a wonderful anomaly.

FRIDAY: Today started with some expected, but prolonging technical difficulties with the central element to the piece. This combines a learning software curve alongside file sizes, and all that gah-gah-gah. There are Plans B and C, but not many tricks of the trade to pull from the pack in the moment (if you’re an expert in rendering and have an hour to donate let me know). I also got a call from one of the companies outputing the motif at entry and they told me there was a problem in the original materials I provided them with (which came direct from another company) but upon inspection it looked unnoticeable so we just rolled. Once in the gallery it appears to have virtually disappeared. It was load-in day as Chris Brown and Ruth Ann Brown (no relation) managed to deliver the central physical elements which will serve to create a lounge atmosphere. This was a grande undertaking by Chris, and I am truly honored to have such a colleague and friend. He has constructed the ‘comfort zone’ for the viewer and worked to the last minute detail on my design, and added his own special something which truly will make the viewing experience magical.

I worked with gallery assistant Keia on the finishing touches that I brought along and that Todd created in his workshop. Chris aligned everything, and under Ruth Ann’s watchful eye we balanced the whole setting. So the environment/template is already nearly ready for prime time. Hey, it helped to receive a nod from The O and a chat with Portland Monthly to continue the ball rolling throughout the weekend. My goal is to have everything set in stone by Sunday with any final tweaks done by Tuesday at the latest. With months of planning, this has honestly (would I lie to you?) gone surprisingly well.

The evening’s festivities began by meeting my clothier Donne from Mario’s who has suited me in Prada for my upcoming reception for Infinitus (Tribryd Pt. III) on the 10th. The series is called Couture after all. I perhaps take things seriously. We picked up my slacks and headed to three hotspots in the Lower Southeast Side, the aforementioned Pushdot Studio, Gallery Homeland (which was kind to open their doors prior to their event), and we started the night with a film screening and Miracles of Being a photo wall montage by local photo legend Paul Dahlquist at the Q Center. I just love looking through these and spotting people I know, and those familiar and new faces everytime. At 75 years old Dahlquist is irrepressible and visionary - it’s very clear, love of his common man. Someone had to point out to me that I was actually included in the large collection of images. Paul Middendorf’s Gallery Homeland has really just started to take off in the last few months, April with Chris Hueppi’s sumptiously colored ant-covered Swarm Intelligence, and this month’s Surreal Systems expertly curated by Mack McFarland and Stephen Slappe, playing alongside and as part of events related to Matt McCormick’s PDX Filmfest. By and large the best use of the space yet, interconnecting large scale video and sculptural installations in low-light throughout the main space, spilling into side rooms, yet to be renovated for future tenants. This was the perfectly ideal environment for this show, it somehow contains the sights and sounds from various artists, keeping earshot contained piece by piece, though the show doesn’t have a staid linear feel to it at all. For these already busy artists, this was quite an undertaking.

SATURDAY/SUNDAY: The weekend is wiggling through the technical difficulties and finishing touches. Until then I’m signing off to allow the process to complete itself.