gimme some skin!

If you're like me, you use Google so many times a day, it's your home page. And if you're really like me (i.e. a little bit nerdy, a little bit rock 'n roll) you've customized that home page to update you on your favorite blogs, news sources, etc. Today, Google launched a new customization option they call artist themes or "skins" where you can choose from over 50 different looks for your Google homepage including craft superstar Dale Chihuly, über designer Michael Graves and so-cute-it's-creepy baby photographer Anne Geddes. It was tempting to go with Todd Oldham cuz he's just so damn cool, but I went with another fave, Jeff Koons. I love the new look, plus it changes depending on the time of the day, which pleases my googlicious nerdy little heart. Right now it's one of my all-time favorite floral feats, Koons' Puppy, which I had the pleasure of seeing in New York a few summers back. Woof!

another weekend...another road trip

Phew--just got back from a third trip on the road in as many weekends. This one came up unexpectedly at the last minute, but it was an offer we couldn't refuse. My mom and her sweetie won a "foodie weekend in Seattle" at the Frontera Farmer Foundation auction and found themselves in the unfortunate position of running out of time to redeem their prize package. We were the happy beneficiaries of three fabulous meals at various spots run by restauranteur Tom Douglas, and a comfy night's stay at the Hotel Andra. Even with the six hour drive getting there and back, it felt like a truly relaxing weekend.

We made a little time between all that eating to check out the new sculpture park that's part of the Seattle Art Museum. It's a really nice outdoor venue that runs down a slope to the sound and the Olympic Mountains in the background. Among my favorite things there was this piece by Teresita Fernandez called "Seattle Cloud Cover." I have been following her work ever since she was a resident at the Fabric Workshop, and it was great to get to experience this one. Colorful mages of clouds and water were printed onto glass with clear dots between. It was an amazing experience as you walked through of real and fictional landscapes.

But the real showstopper was the installation by Richard Serra called "Wake" which consisted of huge undulating steel walls--five, I think? The walls are made of two s-shaped panels that are inverted in relation to each other and set firmly in the ground below--walking through them was an unforgettable experience, reminding me of swimming, floating, dreaming. The rusted steel (or "weathering steel" as Serra calls it) has so many gorgeous subtle color transitions like a Rothko painting. Only bigger. (If this little slide show below isn't big enough for your, click on it.)

waiting in line

Hey beautiful people! Last weekend we went down to Ogle to see Scott Wayne Indiana's latest endeavor--a participatory art experence he called "Waiting in Line." If you recognize this artist's name, he's best known in Portland for the horse project where he started lashing tiny toy horses to some of the historic carriage rings that are still embedded in many curbs from ye olden days of this fair city. The project took on a life of its own, inspiring others to add horses themselves. Since this project, I have been a fan of the way that SWI creates low budget public art that, more often than not, exist in multiple locations around the city, and thereby reach a broader and more diverse audience than the majority of local artists are able to achieve. You can read more about his past projects at his website by clicking here.

"Waiting in Line" was basically just that: a door attached to a small facade was installed against one of the gallery walls, with a velvet rope surrounding it. At 1pm sharp, a doorman magically appeared and perched on a stool inside the rope. Scott invited us to get in line. And wait. The performance lasted half an hour and we watched as the line eventually stretched out the front door of Ogle and down the block.

This is a pretty funny thing for me to participate in because I HATE waiting in line. Especially when I'm alone. I have been known to drive to the airport post office 10 minutes away when I see that the line at my local post office is longer than 15 people because I know how chatty and slow it can in this neighborhood meeting place. In this case, I had to make an exception because I love art more than I hate waiting in line.

Now I feel like I should revisit my thoughts about what it means to wait in line because participating in Scott's piece reminded me of some of the good experiences I've had while waiting in line (especially at art events.) There's one person I met in line at the Portland Art Museum around eight years ago who I still run into all the time and I'm glad to know. It's arguable whether the internet age divides or brings people together, but waiting in line is a common denominator of sorts. If you're waiting for an event, your common interest would be the performance or exhibit. At the Post Office, you might live near the people you meet. (I know I complained about my post office earlier, but if I'm not in a hurry, I actually find it charming.) Sometimes I play a game when I wait in line at the grocery story where I guess what the person in front of me is going to cook for dinner that night.

At this performance, we got into a conversation with the man behind us, who gave me some much needed technical tips for a recent private commission I was perplexed about. Another line waiter jumped out of place and started moonwalking, trying to crack a smile from the serious doorman. Everyone in our part of the line turned to watch the spectacle and it made me think of the Fatboy Slim video Spike Jonze did for the song "Praise You." I also saw a few familiar faces while waiting in line last weekend and it was great to reconnect with some of my fellow creatives. Sort of like a party, but with coffee not wine.

It's an interesting ritual that humans do--lines indicate a sense of order in the world--a first-come, first-served notion of fairness that people in the Western World have pretty much agreed upon. I remember hearing a story on This American Life, I believe, about an American visiting a country in the middle east and trying to go to buy some bread at the local bakery. There wasn't enough for everyone in that room, and there was quite a ruckus of people reaching and yelling in their native language, trying to implore the baker for their share. Every once in a while, a bag containing one of the coveted loaves would be passed back through the crowd to a particularly vocal person in the rear, and it was a complete mystery to the storyteller how that person not only gained priority, but how the hungry crowd aided and abetted them.

In the case of this performance piece, we knew we were complying with Scott's wishes, and that there was no typical reward at the end for our waiting.

I've got a golden ticket!!!!

I was just working in the studio this afternoon and thinking about a grant application I sent off last fall to the Puffin Foundation. Then, lo and behold, there was an envelope in the mail with their return address on it. It was so small I assumed it was a "thank you for applying but...." kind of letter, but when I saw the check inside the letter, I felt like Charlie Bucket finding the golden ticket to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory!

In a time when funds are scarce, I feel like this project has been so blessed and honored. This is the first national grant I have ever recieved, and I hope it's pivotal for me. The Puffin Foundation is an organization that gives grants to artists and art organizations whose work "is often excluded from mainstream opportunities due to their race, gender, or social philosophy." I really want this project to reach out beyond the art community because it speaks the stories of sexual opression, gender discrimination, and environmental consequences. I did an early round of media promotion last week, and already lined up two entities that will help me spread my gospel--Just Out (the bi-monthly publication in town that writes about issues affecting the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender community) has shown interest in doing a full story, and I might also be interviewed on Out Loud Radio, a radio program with the same philosophy.

Looks like I've got a martini in my future tonight!

L.A.P.D.Q.

Hello Beautiful People! Spent the last few days in Los Angeles--the purpose of the trip was to attend a wedding, but there was art to see in the remaining moments. Wanna hear about it? Well, I assume that's why you're reading this, so here we go!

I must mention the hotel we stayed at because it was so adorably hip--the Farmer's Daughter. Christian picked it because it was across the street from the Farmer's Market and since he hails from that neck of the woods, breakfast at the creperie was a trip down 'ol memory lane. Who am I to get in the way of a foodie revival? The Farmer's Daughter looks like a revamped 50's motor lodge, but with tools mounted on the walls and faux wood grain galore. In case you don't know me very well, these two items are über high on my list of coolness.

First stop on our quickie art tour was LACMA . I wanted to see the new Broad Contemporary Art Museum I'd been curious about since seeing it under construction last year when I visited L.A. We first checked out the feature show at LACMA, Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement. This was really really great, with over 100 pieces by artists of Latin American descent. One of the first pieces we saw was this sculpture called "Vocho" by Margarita Cabrera. It's a VW bug made from fabric produced in the third world, and surrounding it was a garden of potted cacti made from border patrol police uniforms. Powerful statement, but I just loved the way she made this floppy car with all the uncut thread ends dangling loose. It had a silly poetic quality that worked for me.

I truly loved the photographs by Carlee Fernandez, such as this self portrait she took, mimicing the portrait of her mother's ex from years before. Ther was also a stunning series on an adjacent wall of self portraits of her posing with large photographs of famous men such as Hundertwasser, Charles Bukowski, Werner Herzog and Lars von Trier. I have been thinking a lot lately about feminism and this series felt like a fresh look on the subject that's worthy of some consideration.

One room held many pieces by Adrian Esparza whose work linked traditional craft, particularly weaving, to his cultural experience. One of the woven works that felt pertinent to me that day was by Adrian Esparza who weaves together two contrasting images to create one hybrid. The piece I'm talking about was called "The Barrio of Earthly Delights" where Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights merged with an image of the Homies characters. I have been reading a book about Bosch's famous painting recently because it ties in perfectly with my Natural Selection show, so it was interesting to see it in this context. The most graphically compelling of the four or so pieces by Esparza that was included in this exhibition was a weaving of Elvis Presley with a Corona Beer label. Esparza also had a fantastic geometric string drawing created with the unraveled thread from a serape, the remains of which hung nearby. Another compelling piece of his was a quilt made from red white and blue t-shirts with various patriotic logos. He bought all of these shirts at thrift stores for less than $2 which resulted in an interesting look at our culture's disposable attitudes.

The other work that made us think and talk were these drawings by Julio Cesar Morales that were taken directly from diagrams from border patrol of various attempts by Mexican citizens to illegally enter into the United States. So many emotions are tied up in this issue, but the two of people kneeling inside car seats were most intriguing. I am always thinking about art's connection to the body, and in the study of furniture, this is key. To see a human in the form of a chair like this brought me back to my days of furniture design.

The Broad contemporary wing was a beautifully lit, expansive space, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano. It was filled with a lot of the regulars you see in many contemporary museums worldwide, so I won't go into detail about the content. Most memorable for me was the elevator shaft designed by one of my longtime faves Barbara Kruger. The elevator is the core of this five story building and Kruger's images and text line the walls. You can read them whilst waiting for the lift, but not while inside, which was an interesting choice.

After that we piled in the car and drove out to the Huntington Gardens for the sweaty afternoon. Most of our time was spent in their amazing Desert Garden, which is one of the oldest and largest collections of cacti and other succulents in the world. I took a zillion pictures and got a gazillion ideas for bonsai forms to create in the next 4 months. You can see them by clicking here, which will take you to an online photo album I created.

get Bent!!

I have seen a lot of wonderful movies that somehow involve bicycles in my days--most memorable are homeboy Matt McCormick's The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal, the sad and poignant The Bicycle Thief, and of course the opening scene of the Muppet Movie where Kermit the Frog showed us how he got his sexy legs!

If you live in Portland, you know that there seems to be about one bicycle for every ten automobiles on the road. Not surprisingly, since this is also a movie-lover's mecca, there's a film festival all about the beloved velocipede. My friends Nancy Breaux and Jane Machamer made a sweet little film about recumbent bikes called Bent that's premiering at this weekend's Filmed By Bike Festival. (and don't forget Leah Hinchcliff who scored it!) If you've ever been either fascinated or annoyed at this mutation of the regular upright, I suggest you give this movie a looky. (Click on the image below for more information about when this film is screening, or visit the Filmed By Bike website linked above.)
(the following information is swiped from the Filmed by Bike website:)
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
Filmed by Bike is the West Coast's premier bike-themed film festival. The festival embraces the art and innovation of bikes through the eyes of imaginative storytellers who use moving images to celebrate the world's most efficient and creative form of transportation. Since 2003, Filmed by Bike has showcased a love of two wheels in eight minutes or less. This festival-plus-party happens once a year in Bike City, USA: Portland Oregon. The event grabs hold of an entire weekend of screenings and features movies from around the globe.

WHY FILMED BY BIKE
For the love of two wheels and all things revolutionary, for art and music and bike culture over all. For taking over, and crawling under and riding in the streets.

WHY +
Every year the festival features a fresh selection of exciting, creative films that are eight minutes or under. Sure, we like those movies of messengers riding like daredevils in-and-out of NYC traffic, smacking taxi butts and skidding in style, but Filmed by Bike is about so much more than that.

An advanced and mature society is one that recognizes, nurtures, revels in and celebrates it's creative class, it's art and culture. Here in Portland, our bike culture is beyond the basics and we are wholely embracing our place in society as more than just bikers. We revel in bringing together movies from around the world for festival that celebrates bike culture.

IN CLOSING
Bicycles are freedom and those who ride them know the entrancement of endlessly spinning wheels.
==> But you don't have to be a daily rider to be entertained by the magic of seeing bikes on the silver screen.

when (second) life imitates art

Eva and Franco Mattes aka 0100101110101101.ORG created a project called Synthetic Performances, where they are reenacting some of the art world's most memorable moments on Second Life, including Chris Burden's Shoot, and Vito Acconci's Seedbed. I am most intrigued with the recreation of Marina Abramovic and Ulay's Imponderabilia, which is one of my favorite art performances of all time that I wish I could have observed. I was very curious about Second Life after seeing the show at the Portland Art Center last year about avatars, but even though I sometimes feel joined at the hip with my laptop, I found it to be boring. Maybe this is worth giving it another try.....

sculpture for the body!

Psst, beautiful people! Wanna buy a necklace? Click here!

and to see a video of me showing how the magnetic clasps work, look here!


These studio shots don't exactly show then in a functional sense, but I love the abstraction of the forms and lines. Enjoy!

adventures (in scale) in metal

My recent posting about J. Fred Woell has been quite a popular draw to the blog lately, and I have recieved many sweet emails from his fans. (Thanks everyone--I'm happy to spread the word and love hearing it's appreciated.) One of them was Kari Woo, a metalsmith who assisted his workshop at Haystack one year and has the exact same two pieces of Fred memorabilia that I blogged about. After writing back and forth a little, she told me about one of her past projects that I immediately deemed "blogworthy"--she received a public art commission in which she enlarged one of her ring designs into a larger permanent outdoor piece. I am always brainstoming about how I can translate my work into outdoor sculptures, so I love seeing others come up with their own creative solutions.

This morning on the HOW blog, I found a really interesting entry that seemed to pair well with Kari Woo's big and little theme--the new designs have been revealed for the British coins, designed by 26-year old Matthew Dent in a national competition. He took the Shield of the Royal arms, split the image into separate elements, and distributed the parts among the seven metal coins.
Separately, they are graphically bold and evoke both modern and traditional aesthetics. You can also arrange them together into the crest, mentally filling in the gaps. Don't even get me started about our ugly money over here in the US.....maybe when Obama is in office, we'll see some changes in that department??? I certainly hope that the economy is a priority for the next administration!

Come play on our team!

Hey Beautiful People! I have recently become President-elect for the small arts nonprofit I have volunteered for for the past two years, Art on Alberta. For you Portland readers, I would like to announce that we are currently seeking 5-6 new board members for our newly revamped mission.

One of the projects we have for next year that I'm most excited about is a yearlong project for next year's Art Hop. Next year will be Art Hop’s tenth anniversary along with the 150th anniversary of Oregon as a state. We are already making plans to make this an especially memorable celebration. Our featured artist will be Thelma Johnson Streat, (1912-1959). Streat was known internationally in the mid-twentieth century for her visual and performance art and for her work to promote intercultural understanding and appreciation. She was also the first African American woman to have paintings to be collected by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Although she grew up in Portland and attended the Portland Art Museum School (now the Pacific Northwest College of Art), Streat is an underrecognized name in this region and in the art world at large. In 2009, Art on Alberta will be taking the initiative to build awareness about this amazing painter, dancer, designer, and educator. One of our board members has been working with her family (who still lives in the region) and they have spent the last decade collecting back the work of Ms. Streat. Art Hop 2009 will be the place where Streat’s work will be showcased, some for the very first time. We are also already talking with many city arts leaders and organizations about partnering for this project, and will work with grant writers to fully fund this interesting exhibit.

If you'd like to be a part of making things like this happen, click here. This year's Art Hop will be in May and we picked three artists to feature, who represent the cultural diversity of this neighborhood. The artists are Adrienne Cruz, Tripper Dungan, and Analee Fuentes. I will probably post a blog entry closer to the event, so stay tuned!

a few lovely pictures for you...

I had a little photo shoot with my photographer Courtney Frisse last week--here's a little preview of some of the pieces I've been working on in the past month for the Natural Selection show. None of these are titled yet, but I will work on that this week. Hope you like 'em!

next time won't you sing with me?