December 27, 2008
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My lovely wife Jessixa has artwork featured in this week's Back to School issue of the Stranger. It features several pieces from her Grew series in which she re-lives her elementary school days vicariously through her trees. Check it...
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While I was on my visit to Salt Lake City I stopped by the UMFA to see the Monet to Picasso exhibit. It was a great show and there were lots of paintings, but the most impressive thing to me were the handheld audio guides. At certain paintings you could punch in numbers and listen to an informative commentary (like most museums offer for any large exhibit), and for certain certain paintings there was the "family" option of audio commentary. These family commentaries were so crazy that I pretty much stopped paying attention to the art. I transcribed the beginning of what I thought was the most remarkable one (which I listened to 5 times) -- posted below. Some points of interest on in the commentaries - Van Gogh trees blathering on (yes talking trees) with the overacting commentator, an angry Rodin "thinker" annoyed at being disturbed with the inquisitive commentator, and best of all -- the little girl (supposed to be the voice of the girl in the painting) who was afraid of the painting behind her that might fall. Uh... maybe you had to be there.
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"Wake(up)" surprised Olympic Sculpture Park goers Sunday. Another piece by PDL (Jason Puccinelli, Jed Dunkerley, and Greg Lundgren) that proclaimed a new "Sculpture... with a purpose!" to appear in the park fall 2008. A wavy Starbucks Coffee cup-shaped kiosk that would serve "artist inspired drinks" like the "Serraccino" and the "Love & Latte" (spoofing sculptures in the park). The sign was hung on fencing that surrounded pristine building materials like a roll of barricade tape, a tripod with nothing on it, some cones, some stakes, a tarp, etc. On the other side was another sign that provided the logos of companies that made the project possible. The professional exectution of the signs made the proposal seem official and totally believable. Passersby made wide range of comments including "No way! This has got be a joke!" and "Is there nothing sacred anymore!?". Click the image below for more pics. There's also this and this.
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This is from my friend Gibson Holub -- he did this today: In My Day Today I walked to work. 16 miles. I left at 3:45 AM from my house in Seattle and headed up Hwy 99. The sky was clear. The moon was half empty. I was armed with pepper spray. There aren't many people out at 3:45 AM on a Friday, just a lot of cops and cabs. I saw the first glow begin on the horizon at 4:30. My feet started hurting at about 5. I arrived at Accoutrements in Mukilteo at 8:42 AM. So door to door, it took me 4 hours & 57 minutes. That makes my walking speed 3.23 mph. I went through 41 stop lights (or somewhere close to that, as I was a bit groggy). I wore a pedometer. When I arrived it read 32,308 steps. I recorded the event with some photos. I took a picture of myself every 15 minutes or so. I've included a few below. I'll post the rest on flickr later. I'm currently experiencing some serious discomfort in my legs. I think I'll pull the shoelaces out of my shoes and frame them or something. Artist's Statement: The Search For Meaning Why did I do it? I did it because it was absurd. I did it because it was liberating. I did it because I knew it would be challenging. I did it because I'm inspired by the the unexpected, the unannounced and the completely unnecessary. Is it art? Who knows, but I walked 16 miles to work today for no reason and it made me feel alive.
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Today is Pioneer Day in Utah, which is basically like part two of the Fourth of July for Utahans, at least that's how I always thought of it when I was a kid. This is the day when the Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley after being forced out of Illinois (I won't get into that) and Brigham Young declared that: "This is the Place" and thus they yanked some granite from the canyons and built a temple and a new state. So in honor of Utah's statehood I am going to share with you Utah's Crown Jewel -- Pat Bagley. He is a politcal cartoonist for the Salt Lake Tribune which is the non-Mormon biased newspaper down thar in the Beehive state. No, we are not of relation, it's just an absurd coincidence that we were both born in Salt Lake City and share an affinity for drawing, though I wouldn't mind telling people if we were actually related, and here's why -- enjoy...
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I should start by adding that the Nikes I wrote about on July 10th do not actually have "powerlaces" like in the movie (Back to the Future II). In the future I'll be sure to include all information, such as: Mattel reveals new Hoverboard (as seen in Back to the Future II), but fail to deliver "hover" technology. Anyway, if you haven't already seen the Mark Ryden/Marion Peck animation please click on the image below (which is my interpretation of the short, I studied long and hard). The vocals are just delightful! Music by Raymond Scott and the Secret 7, Vocal by Dorothy Collins.
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Happy belated Bastille Day. In honor of Bastille day I thought I'd elucidate the painting Meat Stall by Pieter Aertsen. Aertsen had absolutely nothing to do with the French Revolution (and was two centuries away in another country) but his painting Meat Stall had a lot to do with Weight Watchers, and Weight Watchers is an American institution and the French (in the 18th century) were in debt not only from the aristocratic overspending but also from funding America's revolution against the British. So you see -- there is a connection there. Anyhow, Aertsen's Meat Stall depicts a stall with all the juicy, raw meat an insatiable appetite can handle. Back in the day (1551) the goal wasn't to get as little points as possible on the Weight Watcher's scale, but to get as many points as possible (without reversal of fortune of course). So I've outlined the point system according to current regulations in respect to each item painted in the Meat Stall. You might notice the commoners in the background lining up to "weigh in" and the figure on the right (a little closer to the stall) who is clearly mixing up a tastey meat shake for those who didn't quite meat *ahem* I mean meet their weight goal this go 'round. Have a look:
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July 10, 2008 So Nike finally made the shoes that Marty McFly wears in Back to the Future II, you know - the ones with power laces?! Yeah, and Kobe Bryant was the headliner of the event when they showcased them and apparently arrived in a Delorean. The shoes however, are limited to only 350 pair. They are selling on ebay now for about a thousand clams. Unfortunately the Delorean in which Bryant arrived in was not the time machine they used in the movie because the Celtics are still the champions. Sorry Kobe.  |
May 27, 2008 So I'm officially the official
officiant of my website now. This
means that I can update the hell out
of my website, not to mention add
all sorts of goodies like easter eggs
and weird links to places and things
that you need to know about! |
Recent Website Updates:
11/6/08 - "A Small Donation"
9/18/08 - "1291"
9/10/08 - Cutouts - "Cousin Wallace"
9/5/08 - Drawings - "Drawings from Life" section
9/4/08 - Added "Skinbook" in its entirety
9/2/08 - Added "Ghost Dad Sketchbook" in its entirety
8/13/08 - 3 new ones to "Misc Debris"
8/13/08 - Added statement to Abstract
7/31/08 - Cutouts "Power Seal"
7/30/08 - New Painting "Mystic Chlorine Downpour"
7/22/08 - Misc. Debris "Stranger Illustration"
7/14/08 - Cutouts "New Skin"
7/12/08 - Stereoman "Mail"
7/11/08 - Stereoman "Projection/Perfection"
7/10/08 - Writing "June 30th Rap"
7/9/08 - Cutouts "No Title YEt"
7/2/08 - New Painting "You Wish"
6/24/08 - Misc. Debris added 2nd Page
6/15/08 - Drawings "Waterfall"