Hey beautiful people! Looks like things are gonna happen for me next year. My piece sold at the Portland Art Center fundraiser this month, the same day that longtime Portland philanthropist Arlene Schnitzer possed up some cash that is separate from Henry Hillman Jr's matching grant for the PDX Panels Show. There are still plenty of pieces available at the Portland Art Center, featuring many well-known Portland names, so get yourself down there and invest in the best installation space in town!
The other big news of the week is that I got a nice grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council for my Natural Selection Show. I have spent a lot of hours writing grants for this project this year, and it's a relief to know I have some outside financing because it's a major undertaking. I am still hoping for supplemental funding from some other sources, but this is enough to cover my materials at the very least. Stay tuned--when I'm back from the residency, the fun will begin on that project.
Lastly, thank you to any of you readers who may have voted for my brother Mathias and his nonprofit organization blueEnergy when they were finalists for the CNN Heroes award. They didn't end up winning, sadly, but it brought him a lot of visibility for the organization. I'll leave you with this parting shot, the winner of their "funny voter" photo contest, which happens to be taken by my friend Jane Wattenberg of my brother Jordan voting with the Hulk gloves on Thanksgiving.
Hey Beautiful People! We set our clocks back an hour last weekend for that time-honored tradition they call Daylight "Savings." I don't really see how we are saving any daylight, since I am up after the sun on most days. It's hard to deal with the sudden shock of near complete darkness at 5pm, but let me tell you, I definitely noticed that free bonus hour last weekend. I had enough time to sleep in, go out to breakfast at my new favorite joint Kenny & Zuke's (an authentic Kosher deli that's got the best bagels and lox in town, and supposedly a pastrami sandwich to die for) .....and work a decent day in the studio, AND dinner with friends. That's a good day in my book.
This morning, Christian and I both woke up early, still being on our old internal clocks. We decided to take advantage of it by starting our day with an early morning viewing of the Portland Building installation space which is sponsored by RACC. Why don't all galleries open at 7am, I ask? I wanted to check out the piece by Noah Nakell before it came down at the end of this week. I can't remember if I mentioned it here before, but I am on the selection committee for this installation space, so it's fun to see how the projects we selected come out. It's kind of a pain parking around there, being in the midst of the construction-ridden city center, not to mention the fact that at least of half the potential street parking spaces were taken up by city vehicles. I made a joke that our city motto "The City that Works" should be amended to include "......if you work for the city, that is."
No...I don't want to start this entry with a complaint. It's worth it to make the journey to this installation space. I had a show there three years ago and it was a great experience to make a piece that more of the general public experienced than the typical Portland art crowd.
Nakell is a relative newcomer to the local installation scene, but I hope this piece is an indication of more imaginative projects to come. I first saw his work in a show I blogged about many months ago with Madoka Ito.
Anyone who doesn't frequent the Portland Building on a regular basis might not notice that this is an art project because the entire installation area has been filled in with a wall that has a single window in the center. A window shade that is drawn down to a few inches above the sill. It's a strange sight for the inside of a public building, but it could easily be passed by as people carry on with their busy lives. Anyone curious enough to peek through this gap below is rewarded.
There's a little scene happening as if it's outside the window. It reminds me of a Michel Gondry fabrication--Nakell has made a diorama of a little house that's being swept away to sea. Except that it's a little more fantastical--the house floats on the waves and is lit from within. You can see inside the house to an empty chair at a table. The waves are interpreted by a series of rolling cylinders with heavily textured paper to make the choppy waters come alive.
The whole piece is lyrical, and made me feel a little melancholy. But in a good way. Nakell's idea from his proposal was that "in western society, we insulate ourselves from the natural world, as well as from social interactions in the human world around us. Increasingly, we find ourselves trading in real world experiences and interactions for a world made up of laptop and cellphone screens. Not long ago, a local cafe would be a meeting place, filled with conversation. Often times these days, cafes are as quiet as libraries. Every seat is filled with someone staring at a laptop, headphones on--out in the world but isolated."
As you know, faithful readers, I am interested when viewers have to use their bodies to experience a piece of art. This is a great piece for that. It really added to my experience to be asked to bend down so low to watch this magical world, especially as people bustled behind me through the turnstiles to take their places and start their relative days in this building where many important things in this city begin.
Here's a little movie he made of the test run in his studio. You'll get the idea:
Noah Nakell is one of the artists on the roster at the Portland Art Center next year, if they can pull through their present financial dilemma. Hey, speaking of which, I encourage you, dear reader, to become a member of PAC for a mere $35--they need it now more than ever. Click here to join now, and you'll be supporting me and Noah Nakell as well! Of course, if you're in the position to donate more, you will be making a lot of people very very happy.
Hey beautiful people! Looks like things are gonna happen for me next year. My piece sold at the Portland Art Center fundraiser this month, the same day that longtime Portland philanthropist Arlene Schnitzer possed up some cash that is separate from Henry Hillman Jr's matching grant for the PDX Panels Show. There are still plenty of pieces available at the Portland Art Center, featuring many well-known Portland names, so get yourself down there and invest in the best installation space in town! 
The other big news of the week is that I got a nice grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council for my Natural Selection Show. I have spent a lot of hours writing grants for this project this year, and it's a relief to know I have some outside financing because it's a major undertaking. I am still hoping for supplemental funding from some other sources, but this is enough to cover my materials at the very least. Stay tuned--when I'm back from the residency, the fun will begin on that project.
