Guernica as you have never seen it before thanks to Lena Gieseke.

PINK!
1/31/09

Terry Toedtemeier, Portland’s preeminent proponent of all things photography passed away last evening after presenting a lecture. The earnest and gentlemanly soft spoken nature photographer and curator laid the foundation for the current Wild Beauty exhibition. Life can be as fleeting as the click of a shutter, and after just having seen him at Steve Schapiro’s talk a week or so ago, he was as full of life as ever. Toedtemeier is survived by his wife of several years, writer and teacher Prudence Roberts.  As the Curator of Photography at the Portland Art Museum for the last 25 years he also helped co-found Blue Sky Gallery, and like myself was active with the Advisory Board of Newspace Center for Photography and elsewhere. For 17 years he taught at PNCA. In many ways it can be said that the intimate power of the region’s photography community was doubly fortified by his life’s work. In Portland, his work is represented by PDX. He will be greatly missed. Take a moment to engage his amazing spirit of the Northwest today.

Lost Boy Cave, Tillamook Co., Oregon ©2000

—

The Art Counselor, Duane Snider, had this to say back in October.

NINA HAGEN is FEARLESS!: I can’t believe it’s been twenty-five years since this gem (Angstlos) was hatched! Further, I can’t believe I had never seen this spectacle of a video until today. New York, NY, indeed…those were the days.

October, the month of my birth, marks two years since the inception of unBlogged.

In the balanced spirit and grace of my fellow Libran….This has been a fantastic forum for just about everything in the cultural milieu that surrounds my everyday, and was a great launchpad for some critical thought after I closed my chapter with Oregonlive.com. Since that time I have signed on to write the occasional review for a few publications, leaving that chapter to be written elsewhere. As time sways and my studio practice evolves and has become more time-critical and streamlined, it frees me less to dedicate to a daily entry. When I think about blogging as a conversation of sorts, dedicated to a personal point of view, I often wonder about the possibility of exchange. There’s a lot going on around town, new galleries and leaders (institutions, government), and most of it is imbued within a cycle of change, fresh and youthful. And I’m just as thrilled as the next guy to participate in all this good stuff. And though I get out to see exhibitions and films and fellow artists often, I am going to, for now, abandon the vestiges of cultural alliteration and digestion to be done one-on-one with my colleagues, leaving for more white space here. Room for bigger breaths, and the occasional snapshot of what’s going on out in the field when I’m curating or in my studio. Speaking of which, I am closing my current studio this month and moving to Milepost 5.

So, taking the plunge towards a future with an intelligent live/work space that blends community, and a sense of the urban street-chic unknown. I’ve been so fortunate to spend the last two years with my amazing colleagues at Today Art Studios and will miss them all very much. While under the roof in the lower Southeast Industrial District I produced more work than ever before in my career, drawings, photographs, an entire full-scale installation production, studio visits galore. Any artists’ dream. There’s also something about the process of consolidation, refining what I have, what I can leave behind. Though when all settles in what at once was a bottomless cup, I plan on spending a good chunk of the next six months to a year on a new body of work that’s only now floating around in my head in parts and pieces (just where I want to be).

PS: If you are interested - I have a sizable pro art crate (77″ x 53 1/2″ x 19″) built by ArtWork in superb shape that I am willing to sell (worth 2K, $500 or BO) or trade (contact me for more info). I’m moving mid-month.

TBA is HAPPENING.

Or A Shotput in Squarecuts.

Now Get Back to School!

Far from boring, yesterday, two friends whisked me off to the Singer Hill Trail in Oregon City, one of the region’s very oldest outlying areas by Portland (est. 1829). The city itself is complete with interpretive centers at the end of the Lewis & Clark Trail. I’ve been by, but this was my first trip to North America’s only municipal elevator (built in ‘52).

The retro space age site has retained a certain lost-in-time charm that could use a coat of paint, which actually makes for a more realistic sense of the forgotten. But it hasn’t been! It’s operational and the ride is complete with an actual live attendant who takes you the 90 feet up or down, connecting two neighborhoods. Its observation deck is complete with tens of lenticular images of the site during and after construction. After descending we took the roundabout staircase back up and discovered the water feature platforms, the former site of a mill, which must have been quite a beautiful sight in its earlier days.

MY FIRST TIME: I was in Salem for 1st Wednesday this week (underwritten by Re/Max). I know what you’re saying - “first this + first that”, right? Well, I went with a friend who grew up in and around the Capital of our fair state, and it was an eye-opener for him since he’s now living in Denver. What a delight to see someone’s face light up seeing their hometown come alive with the arts for the first time in his eyes. It was kind of fun, and a tad bit old-fashioned to see dance troupes of pre-pubescent girls in spangly outfits dancing to Material Girl on one street corner, with seniors engaged in the doh-ci-doh of square dancing in hoop skirts at the next. There were musicians, a clown (yipes), and even tap aerobics. I didn’t see much visual art (except our destination) and no six foot high unicycles. Though, beyond the throw-back it surely was fun to be in a place celebrating creative energy. It sort of felt good not to know anybody on the ’scene’ - however strange that might sound. But being purely an observer was a nice change.

SPEAKING OF WHICH: My visit was prompted by Barry Shapiro, a photographer who was recently in the Newspace Annual Exhibition that I curated. His work was showing at Salem Art Association’s Project Space on Commercial Street right downtown. I really enjoyed meeting Shapiro and seeing his work, but moreso because we coincidentally grew up in and around the same hometown of Revere, MA (yeah, one if by sea…and all that). Our reminiscences include rough, local colloquialisms, the changing culture along the shoreline of our country’s first public beach, and a whole lot more about Italian food (Joe Rogan anyone?). To which he recommended Davinci’s in Salem, and knowing the potential palette of someone who grew up in a very Italian neighborhood, I felt like home, just 3K miles away. The faire was exceptional, and my buddy Jason got some type of homemade pasta with fancy mushrooms and marscapone which was a bite from the heavens.

WHAT’EVA AILS YA: Today, in preps for a few deadlines, I am absorbing a tincture of Men Plus King Power - Love Mengnan Ginseng Extract. We’ll see if it does the trick.

The Tacoma Art Museum has announced the 36 finalist artists (from 543 entries!) for the upcoming 9th Annual Northwest Biennial today. This is the first round so these folks will receive studio visits and then be considered for the final exhibition in January 2009. It’s a great mix of artists from the Pacific Northwest, and Portland did fare quite well in this roster:

Rick Araluce, Christopher Bennett, Gala Bent, Michael Brophy, John Calvelli, Tim Cross, Steve Davis, Jack Daws, Eric Elliott, Tannaz Farsi, Christian French, Sarah Hood, Mark Hooper, Denzil Hurley, Linda Hutchins, Robert Jones, Michael Kenna, Doug Keyes, Isaac Layman, Zhi Lin, Micki Lippe, Margie Livingston, Victor Maldonado, Debora Moore, Fred Muram, Richard Nicol, Jim Riswold, Susan Robb, Stephanie Robison, Paul Rucker, Ross Sawyers, Crystal Schenk, Susan Seubert, Rob Snyder, Chang-Ae Song, Scott Trimble

Selections were made by Alison de Lima Greene, Curator of Contemporary Art and Special Projects at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Rock Hushka, Curator of Contemporary and Northwest Art for the Tacoma Art Museum.

GET RESTLESS: Just when you were twidlin’ your thumbs and decided to take the recession (Summer of ‘08) off, up pops a few more opportunities and things to do in one place than most can handle…pick and choose one, two or a half dozen - and go for it!

ONE MINUTE FESTIVAL AMSTERDAM
SHORT CUTS COLOGNE
INTERNATIONAL KANSK VIDEO FESTIVAL
STABLE SCRAWL
LOSING GROUND
DISPATCH PORTFOLIO PROJECT ‘2
LISA KRIVACKA, ALMOST UTOPIA
MATTHEW MCGUINNESS
HALSEY RODMAN, THE BIRDS
HISTORY KEEPS ME AWAKE AT NIGHT
TOBIAS REHBERGER AT MUSEUM LUDWIG
LAETITIA BOURGET, LOVE, SEX AND SENSUALITY
THE WHITE-HAIRED REVOLVER
SHARE OUT
SWISS ARTISTS-IN-LABS AWARD 2009
QUIET POLITICS
THE SHALLOW CURATOR
PIKSEL08: CODE DREAMS
ANIMASYROS INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL
CAT-IQ DESIGN COMPETITION
SCA PACKAGING DESIGN CHALLENGE 2008
INTERNATIONAL RESIDENCY ARTISTS
COLOGNEOFF IV - HERE WE ARE!
CROSSBREEDS PLATFORM 09
LET’S FUCK, NOT FIGHT!
THE SQUID PROJECT
WEB-BASED PROJECT BY ARTIST BARBARA BLOOM
XXIVTH NEW MEDIA AND VIDEO ART INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
VARIANT 32 SUMMER 2008
WOLFGANG TILLMANS AT STEDELIJK MUSEUM CS
F2F8: FACE TO FACE 2008
LUCKY STRIKE DESIGNER AWARD
NEW DESIGNERS
2 - 4 WEEK ART/CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP IN ITALY
AN OPEN INVITATION TO MAKE A FILM FOR FRIEZE ART FAIR
CALL FOR VIDEO WORK: DROPOUT
INTERNATIONAL LEIPZIG FESTIVAL FOR DOCUMENTARY & ANIMATED FILM
THE PAULA YSOM GROUP LIVE ON THE WEB
CIRCA ISSUE 124
YOUNG ILLUSTRATORS AWARD 2008
PACT ZOLLVEREIN
INSTINCT
AFTERALL ISSUE 18
3 WEEKS LEFT TO ENTER CREATIVITY 38
NEW YORK CONVERSATIONS
SUMMER MIXTAPE VOLUME 1: THE GET SMART EDITION

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.

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…

WAVY HAIR: A peek at MK Guth’s Ties of Protection & Safe Keeping on its final viewing day at the New York’s Park Avenue Armory which closed this weekend as part of the 2008 Whitney Biennial.

THE NEW WAVE: A glimpse of the Whitney Biennial from Cool Hunting.

WAVE OF MAGNETISM: London-based friends, Semiconductor (Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt) have just released their latest collaborative work with NASA’s Space Science Lab called Magnetic Movie, enjoy!

Port has run their annual ‘curatorial round-up’ today. It’s a broad mix of voices, from the museum to independents (like myself), to the college/university level, as well as gallerists and newbies to the craft. Of course, their have been formal masters levels programs for the field since the 80s or so. Much of the focus of these studies are often on art history and administration. Some of our local crop defy those boundaries, often with a great sense of style. Sometimes the message falls flat, or simply misses the mark. But a curator has to stand tall in any wreckage, and stick true to their own truth. It’s a rough trade in my mind. One who hones in on specifics, or simply dreams up an imaginary, elusive conjugation of a world they see and want to share with the masses. These folks help shape, and/or change the creative template. This brief summarization scratches at what makes them tick. Curators are often celebrated for bringing together unbridled, overarching themes beyond the formal, into the conceptual, often unseen by the naked eye. Some play with formula. Some are just players, and others visionaries. You decide.

The early Fifties were hard for me and my family, struggling to raise four grown children and with my husband disabled in the war effort, I had to take a regular office job. Of course, before we were married, I enjoyed working in my dad’s manufacturing plant. This was 1938 Chicago and we were the most popular couple among our friends. We would go out dancing to live music at the Top Hat nearly every Friday or Saturday night. Prohibition had faded over the years, and we would enjoy a few martinis and dance until dark. Then, that fateful call just before Christmas came and Gerry was off in a flash. The Second World War seemed to never end, and he had already served a tour in Europe. This time the Battle of the Bulge was letting loose on the Western Front and under total covert circumstances. Thank heavens he came back in one piece, unlike his friend Harv who was partially blinded and George who wasn’t as lucky and never made it back. George only lived a few short miles from us, and left his very young wife Lucy behind, and she hadn’t even given birth to their lovely baby Susan when she received the news. All the men were hurt within the first few days of the effort, and many Americans died here. It was wartime, and Gerry was shot in the leg twice, though Army medics did manage to dislodge the bullet, he now uses a wheelchair, but has grown quite independent.

My youngest daughter, Caroline, is still at home, but even she will be off to college in the Fall. At 37 years old, most of my days of modeling for the calendar company are now past me. So, I feel lucky to have a job that can support my family with the food and clothing they need. This cigar manufacturer is one of the biggest around and I work in the front office for Mr. Hemingway, who is a good businessman and pays me well. My job consists mostly or arranging appointments for him to meet with travelling salesman and other business executives. He appreciates that I want to organize the offices by including the latest technology, like this telecom that I installed myself on his desk. That way we can talk to each other without my disturbing a meeting already in progress. There’s also now lots of light in his office after I removed the dark burgundy drapes and added sheers that really opened things up. The job keeps me busy for about 30 hours a week and I was recently promoted to executive assistant, so I even supervise the new office girl myself. Gerry and I still manage to get to a few dinner parties with old friends every now and then, and though he’s in better shape than ever, he still has disturbing nightmares that wake me in the middle of the evening. We plan on growing old together and our combined benefits should be enough to take us through any future hard times. You have to save for a rainy day after all….Oh, yes, I almost forgot, now with the sun shining into our offices, the boss orders fresh cut flowers to be sent directly to my desk twice weekly. I don’t even have to place the order!

[ * My entry for a project by Troy Briggs. ]

WRITING BETWEEN THE LINES: Holy poison pen, Batman! Talk about anomalies. A mysterious man has sort of appeared in my world. One “Zach Logan“. In an intriguing spin on blog commentary appears, perhaps, the world’s so-called 1st “Blog Comment Novelist” who seems to be taking my own blog and making it his (or her) own (hijacking, deconstructing, reworking it into genius lyrics for a rockmentarian opera?). Im certainly equipped to ride along….Though if you don’t have an Comments/RSS Feed set up you’ll possibly miss most of what’s said. Here are a few recent additions (scroll to Comments….):

PART I
PART II
PART III
PART IV

OK, it’s not really like every other Tuesday, since today marks the annual address by Steve Jobs and his company simply known as Apple®. Even it’s online store is down during the address, so you can rest assured that they are up to something. Predictions are high that they will release (or simply announce) the second rendition of the iPhone first released last Summer. This version may have a faster platform, but I am going to assume that the winning design won’t change until the next next variation. It will also be the first time they welcome third party products for this handheld as well (for current iPhone users - latest app updates here). There will also be a new movie download service announced, as well as some super secret, spelled amazing, new laptop, desktop or some combo thereof - see the ‘artist’s rendition’ above.

The Apple community is abuzz with news of a fascinating patent application the company filed for a laptop docking station which includes some extremely interesting concept drawings. Powerpage has a good piece on this patent. With a new OS (w/Time Machine, and new Time Capsule), new Microsoft Suite (finally), and new 8 Core tower drive the technology (r)evolution is in full swing in ‘08! Things just got started in Cupertino, so we’ll wait and see what rolls from their creative minds within hours. With a four year old PowerPC chip iBook G4 - though there were subsequent revisions to this model, on May 16, 2006, the Intel-powered MacBook replaced the iBook line altogether. It may be time to look at alternatives, especially given that I am now using all of the multimedia software I can grasp, including Garageband, FinalCut Pro, the Adobe Creative Suite and considering Aperture. So, keep your eyes and ears peeled…

Macheads Unite: MacWorld Expo site :: Macworld Podcast :: How to Debunk an Apple Rumor (Computerworld)

POSTSCRIPT: Announcements thusfar have included new iPhone and iTouch software updates, the movies as stated above (with the new HD flicks on AppleTV [see tour]), Time Capsule (500G + 1TB for $499), but the big announcement is the new superwaferthinmint Mac Air. Wow! It fits into an envelope. We’ll have to wait for that illustration to come to life…

The MacBook Air ad.

David Tibet says: “Simply Superior® is an attempt, by the Hafler Trio and its esteemed associates, to address the situation with which the marketplace confronts those engaged in the creative act and to equitably deal with interactions there, thus providing an alternative way of approaching the problems and benefits such opportunities offer. Rather than complain about how changing circumstances affect creativity, it is an attempt to create a place where such endeavours can be seen in a new light, and take root in a new soil. Finally, it is also an attempt to repay the debt of being allowed to exist in this fragile system for many years.”

Not that I’m really seeing colors, just that the somewhat dulling effect of the dampened skies has crept into my system a touch. I’m used to the morning light helping my rise n’ shine. Been a busy time though. The ‘Deconstructing Criticism‘ class is officially going to run starting Tuesday night, I’ve been working out some technical kinks and laying down the structure for discussion, keeping it as much like clay within reason for the up to eight students (there’s still a lil’ room!). For someone who hasn’t officiated a classroom since the early 90’s I’m not really that nervous about teaching, is that normal? Actually, I have an abundance of ideas and exercises. The slideshow I’ve started to build could be called ‘dynamic’ - I’m trying to infuse it with as many current images as possible, by also relying on the history of contemporary image making from the 60’s to the present. To prod me in this direction I bought the book Art Now: Artists at the Rise of the New Millenium, which I think is a fantastic text book for me right now.

The beginning of the year crossed some lines in my personal and professional life. Some of these particulars will take a while to sort out, others are pretty topical and can be dealt with quickly and efficiently. But seeing friends for New Year parties was quite nice and put my mind at ease. I realized how much I enjoy a celebration, conversation with souls unified by cultural issues and aesthetics. How we crave to share, debate, and basically ham up our quadrant of knowledge with others. Or just enjoy a glass of wine, cooking crustaceans, lighting fireworks, or simply stepping back to take it all in, and wonder. I mostly did the latter, but it proved that I have some extremely cool people in my life that I call friend.

Over the weekend I did get out a bit, in between racking my brain on how to get to the real juice of the beet so to speak. Movies, exhibitions, ‘rythmatic. I’ll probably try to do my findings some justice on the podcast version, but haven’t had enough feedback from my audience as to the direction it ‘could’ go in yet. Sure, the whole lot, it’s about production and some folks have chimed in and that’s great. But I don’t want it to become just a cultural calendar which the last one seemed to be somewhat. And I don’t want it to be simply a critical rant either. And in actuality, it will blend and become its own beast in good time. But in the meantime dear reader, speak up and share what you’d like to see (or hear in this case). I do have an interesting interview coming up from an artist in Toronto working on a show in New York that opens this week. And some exclusive type sound-based interludes. More soon….

EXTRA EXTRA: Oh, yes, and I’m now accepting ads for creative businesses (as seen in the right hand column here). These are clickable links going directly back to your own site of choice. Art consultants, galleries, publications - but it’s gotta be the good stuff (I promise no Lexus or Applebees ads). The cost is nominal, and if you are interested, please email me and I will get you the stats. Speaking of stats, we have about 100 hits a day, so that’s a lot of reader investment in the unwieldy goings-on here…so, if you want to try it out for a three month or annual run - to save cents run your own analytics and see what unBLOGGED does for you.

The sky may be out. And puffy worn tones may overshadow the concrete, but the unstolen soul is hear to tell a tall tale.

I was watching this interview with Francis Bacon from The South Bank Show taken from my favorite site on the web (ubuWeb), when I discovered something. That, perhaps, as artists we can really be so definitive, yet introspective, that we are profoundly susceptible to contradict ourselves constantly. Aside from being an odd couple in basic housekeeping (he breeded amongst chaos, I need a blank slate to think), it’s my belief that I would have gotten along quite well with this man. There’s a critical vibe running through the simplest of comments. Especially when it comes to the non-evasive approach to discussing his own work.

• • •

“Art is artifact, and the more artificial you can make it the better, the more intense it will be.”

“If I drew it, I would just be making an illustration, so it’s so much better to immediately attack the canvas with the paint.”

- Francis Bacon, 1985
(slightly paraphrased)