Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Coming up for air...

The work is up, the opening- despite the torrential rain- was a great success and I owe many , many heartfelt thanks to all of the people that helped make it happen. I have oodles to write and show and will as soon as I can. Of course you can go to the Alley-Oop site and see some d-o-c-u-m-e-n-t-a-t-i-o-n.



Martin over at Anaba has been busy and is making Richmond an even cooler place than it already is. He has curated Art Basel: Stuffy's, and he's showing his paintings (Art of This Century) at the aluminum clad Markel building near Willow Lawn. I'm in the Stuffy's show and I have visited it- Kim and I were there this past Sunday and man, art never smelled so good. Stuffy's is a sub shop and I love the smell of vegetables in brine when I look at art! They were also having some sort of smoke-fire event so the atmosphere was hazy and put one in the mind of Venetian perspective. I have yet to visit the Markel builduing but plan to do so b/f the week is over.

Did anyone see Zoe Strauss' slideshow in Philly this past Saturday? I am sorry I had to miss it. If you don't know who she is, check her out- she's cool- I wish she and I were friends.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Not One Bit Tired

There's a lot going on around here these days. Last night Kim, M (a co-worker) and I went to Hyperlink to see/hear Marionette, The Keyons, and The Rabbits play. Overall, the show was good (as I get older I like live music more- I think it's b/c I spend 40 hrs/week engulfed by work and 3.5 hrs. engulfed by feedback is a nice change). Marionette is the (self described) "high-maintenance rock band of Richmond" which means that these guys practice 3 days a week, and are very serious about making sure that all 3000 of their instruments are in perfect working order and that their sound is impeccable. For a band that hasn't taken nearly enough opportunities to cut their teeth, they sounded great last night. Although it's admittedly difficult for me to be at all objectivce (I'm crazy about at least two of the band members), I think they do a damn good version of the "I'm-a-sensitive-man-I'll-admit-to-liking-the-harmonies (and not only the theremin)-of-Pet- Sounds-and-I-hope-that-music-can-mean-something-more-than-all-of-this-version of rock and roll". There were a lot of highlights but the ones that stand out were the songs "The Siren" (Todd and Kevin's harmony in the outro!) and Marshall's sad Wilco, Songs Ohia tune where again, Kevin comes in like an angel.

Damn.

It also helped that the two bands that preceded them seemed as if they concentrate more on drinking than they do playing their noise machines.

FURTHER, my pal Christopher Wiedeman- a former classmate, assistant to my maintenance-man ass, and colleague, and I are in the throes of preparing for an installation that opens here in Richmond October 27 (6-8 pm). We're transforming a storage shed/garage that is slated for demolition in a few months. Indoors, Christopher is involved in a pretty complicated installation that involves his jack hammering a 6' hole into the floor of the structure, video and audio. I'll be wheat-pasting over 130 color photographs to the outside of the shed. We are both excited and terrified about what we're doing. I think there is a really healthy amount of knowing and complete ignorance in what each of us are doing. For me, this will be the first time that I've shown any of my work that looks a hell of a lot like what's featured here. Christopher went to school for philosophy so this will only be his second or third show- ever. And it's the first time he's ever used a jack hammer (elegant was my word of choice but then again I spend all day thinking about ART). We've set up a blog and I'll be posting images of the installation's progress. Check that out here and let me know what you think. If any of you have a chance to make it here for the opening, please come and know that there is room for you to sleep, food for you to eat, beer for you to drink.

My former student (and current friend), Ed is having an opening at the Allegany Arts Council in Cumberland, MD next Saturday and everyone in the tri-state region (and Georgia!) is excited. Ed was an English major at Frostburg State University who, by chance took a photo class, loved it and after graduating went to a special photo-tech school in Ohio for two years. I love Ed. When I was teaching, Ed was great at keeping me in check. Being a college "prof", it's so easy to be wishy-washy and to abuse your power. Ed was always honest and outspoken during class and would ( I think) inadvertently call me out on my discrepancies. Ed was also the total spazz student that couldn't sit still and would huff and puff through the 3+ hours of Tuesday night classes. Ed is thrilled about all of the people that will be coming together to see his work- I think he has his heart smack dab in the right place. The weekend is going to be intense- I haven't been to Frostburg since New Year's, and Todd and I are playing at the coffee shop where years ago we met (with Jon Felton and his Soulmobile), then there's Ed's show on Saturday and then (hopefully) another gig - or song or two- before the Lyric Fire and The Royal Army Recording Company. Frostburg fun.

Frostburg -my sweet- I miss you, and can't wait to walk your steep streets, hug your precious cargo, and wish I were one of your pigeons.

Finally, on the way home from work today I took a detour and explored the "light industrial" area that lies between Hermitage Road, Leigh Street, and I-95. It's a nasty area and I could write about if for days. But pictures will have to do...

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Oppression Theory

Look at the look on his face- this is a cat that on occasion just attacks us. Although Kim wouldn't agree, I'd say that Sid is only 30% domesticated. The rest is all wild (add drawl). I like Mr. Kitty heaps but sometimes I worry that he's going to attack my head and scratch my eyeballs out.

In other news, the boy band Marionette is playing tonight at the Hyperlink on Grace St. Should be good, $3 is a bargain, and I hear they have all new dance routines and outfits.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

HI MOM!

Mom and Dad at the Va. State Fair, Sept 30, 2006

So... guess who's now a reader? Despite my father's frugality and insisting that they suffer through dial-up (my parents recently "lost" the stolen cable I had rigged up for them 18 yrs ago, we'll see how long my dad can go without it- I'm guessing they'll never have cable again) my mom said to me on the phone the other morning that she's begun reading. She had G**gled me a while ago and found it but hadn't been ready to read it until now.

Surprised by my tone? Well, my blog's not anonymous for a reason- I won't spell out that reason but to say that the blog is an extension of my mouth, my fingers, my eyes and heart, and that it is, in conjunction with my photographs, accordion playing, cooking, and incessant yakking (lecturing!) an attempt at constructing , directing, (or navigating) my way through what I generally perceive as a severely limited template within which I'm expected to live.

I'm happy that my mom is reading (Dad, are you there too?) and even happier that I'd be happy that she was reading. I wonder how this will affect my posts? How will it affect my interactions with my mom? Will she and I get together and I won't have anything to say b/c I'll know she's already read what's on my mind? Or will mom bring up past posts (actually she's already done this) and then we'll talk about the past in terms of what I've written? Will my mom get her own blog and then we'll never talk again b/c we'll be reading what the other has written instead of having spontaneous, live conversations? I trust this won't happen... They have dial-up for Christ's sake!

Mom, dad, I'm glad you're here. Now where's that sister of mine?

Friday, October 06, 2006

Airborne Toxic Event

APEX, N.C. (AP) -- As many as 17,000 people were urged to flee homes on the outskirts of Raleigh early Friday as flames shot from a burning hazardous waste plant and a chlorine cloud rose high over the area...

The enormous dark mass moved like some death ship in a Norse legend, escorted across the night by armored creatures with spiral wings. We weren't sure how to react. It was a terrible thing to see, so close, so low, packed with chlorides, benzenes, phenols, hydrocarbons, or whatever the precise toxic content. But it was also spectacular, part of the grandness of a sweeping event, like the vivid scene in the switching yard or the people trudging across the snowy overpass with children, food, belongings, a tragic army of the dispossessed. Our fear was accompanied by a sense of awe that bordered on the religious.
From Don Delillo's White Noise

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Who Cares?

Ha!

The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players is coming to Charlottesville's Starr Hill on December 8th.

The Kimberly and I are not going due to scheduling issues, but you should- and you should tell me how it was. They are friends with the Moldy Peaches- one of the best bands to ever sing the words: "these burgers are crazy".

Monday, October 02, 2006


For years, Michael Lease collected found photographs as a supplement to his own image making, acknowledging the power of the untrained eye. Lease often applies self-prescribed rules to his work, confining his process to explorations of his immediate surroundings...

Read the article Visual Space Collected and Composed, issue #50 of ARTL!ES.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

?

Does anyone know why these unused newspaper boxes are around the city? They used to be brown and now they're blue. They make an okay place to lock your bike. This one is on the corner of Bellevue Ave. and Brook Rd.