Cosmic Connection

Constellation Overlap (September)

Adrian Williams @ Artpace San Antonio

This is the murky evidence of the making of Median Dogs, an audioplay by Portland artist, Adrian Williams.  Not having been present opening night for the only live performance of the play, I lingered for quite a while listening to the play and accompanying soundscape on a pair of headphones smack dab in the center of the installation.  It was surprisingly engrossing.  

The sound effects and music, obviously created by the objects and instruments in the space, were layered with a somewhat mysterious dialogue that was laced with social change, fear and frustration.  The setting was San Antonio and the issue of focus was the right to education.  The characters were everyday people and political activists, with a brief cameo by the popo.  I had a sense that the story was a potential reality in the near future, and that the concerns of the activists were urgent.

I left feeling inspired.  I left feeling like, wow, audioplay.  This is something I want to do.  

Tracy Moffatt @ Artpace San Antonio

Artist 

First Jobs

Tracy Moffatt made me laugh hard and cry softly in this fantastic show at Artpace last month entitled Handmade.  There were four video works projected on four walls, each taking a turn so that you would have to traverse each side of the deep and wide bench in the center of the room. The videos pieced together clips from famous films/TV spanning throughout film/TV history and were tightly edited together into four broad themes.   Artist was packed with hilarious scenes of production and destruction of artworks on screen, particularly painting.  The angst of the artist was so palpable it was embarrassing!  Love, another video montage, broke my heart with scenes of kissing, fighting, hurting and loving all rolling by like the view from a train, with just enough information to grasp the heartache.

The rest of the gallery space was dedicated to a series of bright and oddly enthusiastic photographic collages depicting scenes of entry-level employment.  I could relate to a number of them, as they seemed to be set in the 1980's (the beginning of my working life), and because I have had a plethora of shitty jobs in my day.  The waitress scene is uncannily similar to my memory of Mickel's Family Restaurant.  Mickel's was my first job as a waitress, where a tip of a quarter was not uncommon. They were famous for their deep fat fried dinner rolls.  Yes, you read that correctly.  And, I'm pretty sure they're still frying. 

Light Bulbs

Hardy Head

Light bulbs are being planted in a thoughtful ground 

with hope for fresh perspective.  

We'll see what comes up in the Spring.  

Nothing and Everything

I started a new blog.  It's love a story.  For better or worse.

Update (December 2012):  I had the best intentions for this project, but it didn't make it.  

Beautiful View

Melting rusting stunning blue wedge sledge on crumpled ledger paper by Suzan Frecon. 

I am so lucky to have been invited to view Tim Woolsey’s private collection of works on paper.  The collection of mostly contemporary works is a very personal glimpse into the heart and mind of the collector.

Tim told me that Frecon was given a stack of old ledger paper, aged and beautifully deformed, that she often used to make drawings on.  I need a stack of old ledger paper!