A Funny and Silent Night

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Brad and I started SAMETIME one year ago yesterday. It has been an awesome and sometimes sobering experience. We're going to keep going for another year and will be joined by 4 more artists: Kate MacDonnell, Bryan Martin, Jesse Sommerlatte, and Soung Wiser. We are designing the new format for the project and it will no longer be housed at my website, but instead at www.sametime715.com.

We hope you'll visit (we'll be snapping along regardless).

She didn't say Duchamp once!!

Elizabeth King
By Ear
2004
bronze, glass eyes
51⁄2 x 31⁄2 x 41⁄2 in.
Image courtesy of Kent Gallery

I just found out today that Liz King is having a gallery talk at VACR this Thursday at 6pm. I'll let you know how many times she says "Duchamp" (that wasn't nice). Or better yet, maybe you'll come, we'll talk, and count together?

Elizabeth King Still from “Eidolon”
1988–99 Live animation using untitled sculpture
11-minute video loop
Image Courtesy of Kent Gallery

Whew. I'm wiped out. I've been doing nothing other than working to get ready for the Visual Art Center's grand reopening celebration. The weekend of events is over, I didn't get any calls from our security service, last night, I only have to go there tonight at 6 to lock up. I think Im going to get a portion of my life back but first I'll have to recover.

Stop by to see what's going on. The newly renovated space is really amazing and for now it's clean. The first exhibition in the new gallery is work by Liz King, a sculptor and professor at VCU. The show, a retrospective of her work that will travel to four other venues over the next year is titled The Sizes of Things in the Mind's Eye.

The Assignment Continues

I started photographing this tree because of an assignment I gave to my advanced photo class sometime in 2001. The point of the assignment was to choose a subject that could be photographed over a long period of time, photograph it monthly, and if you're an advanced photo student, commit to photographing it for the rest of your life.* Well, it's 7 years later and I'm wondering how many of us are still doing the assignment. I chose a favorite place in Frostburg and the tree that stands in the center of it. Frostburg is full of hills, and houses that are close together. If you grew up (as I did) in the flatlands of Maryland, lived for a while in eastern Colorado, and came to realize that the time spent looking at fields of tobacco, the scrubby land of Delaware, and the plains of Kansas were best for you sense of being, Frostburg could be a tough place to live.

The field in the picture above abuts the Paris Glendenning Recreational Center (sounds fun!) , or what used to be known as Lion's Field. At the time I assigned the project the Recreational Center's fields were just a threat. I chose to document the tree because I was afraid it would be dozed over, and I wanted photos of this place where I had spent a lot of time with friends (and one furry pal). I'd lead them to the tree and we'd lie beneath it, talking about our existences, and how the decision to live in Frostburg was tangled into our lives in a way only people who have lived there can understand.

Happily, the tree (which is a locust) hasn't been dozed. I do my best to not only photograph it (once a year now), but to also spend some time with its furrowed bark, its neighboring brambles and ground hog dens. I try and remember all those conversations, and all that romping in the grass with Annabelle, Kim and Todd.

The other thing I do each time I'm there is wonder how many (if any) of my former students are still keeping their side of the bargain.

Anybody?

*My friend Kate says that this was a nearly abusive assignment in that I was asking the students to alter their lives for the class. I disagree with her, and wonder if this type of thinking is in part indicative of the difference b/t someone with and someone without tattoos?

Sexytime

There's a good write up of SAMETIME 7:15 in the current issue of the Baltimore City Paper. It's worth the read if for no other reason than the job the writer did making the project seem much sexier than it probably is. Go here and scroll right to see the sex picture.

You've got to love a city that prides itself on being the home (and muse) of John Waters.

There are a number of bands or musicians that might come to mind when the word "prolific" is mentioned. Ryan Adams certainly qualifies, especially after a 2005 calendar year which brought three studio albums to store shelves. But whoever you can think of would be left in the dust, most likely, by Brad Walker, a man perhaps better known by his moniker, Some Monastery...

Read the entire Stereo Subdivision interview with my fellow SAMETIMEr here.

The Blogger Show

I'm happy to report that I'm a part of a multi-site, multi-date show called The Blogger Show. The first leg of the show opens this Saturday at the Agni Gallery in NYC, while the Pittsburgh venue Digging Pitt (where the show originated), has an opening next Saturday. As does Digging Pitt Too, and the Panza Gallery. Finally, BoxHeart Gallery (also in Pitt) has an opening November 13th.

So here's the blurb, the raison d'etre:

The artists in the exhibits at Agni, Digging Pitt and Panza Galleries represent a range of visual disciplines and aesthetics. The one commonality is active blogging. Some use blogging as a platform for discussing issues facing visual artists while others treat the blog as a public journal. Whatever approach or combination of approaches, all have brought a level of clarity to artistic discourse. These exhibits are a reflection, in physical space, of the ephemeral blogosphere.

Thanks to John Morris, Susan Constanse for doing all the work involved.

Below is the list of artists and links to their blogs. A few of the names should be familiar and all appear worth the perusal. I really like what Eva Lake has to say about blogging.

Appearing @Agni Gallery

Nancy Baker (Raleigh, NC) - Tire Shop and Anonymous Female Artist
Martin Bromirski - (Richmond VA) Anaba
Sharon Butler (Mystic, CT) - Two Coats of Paint
Lisa Call (Parker, CO) - New Work and Inspiration
F. Lennox Campello (Washington, DC) Mid Atlantic Art News
Rose Clancy (Pittsburgh, PA) - paperWorks
Kevin Clancy (Boston MA and Pittsburgh PA) - soft soft pink pulls through the ivory void
Susan Constanse (Pittsburgh, PA) - Oranje
Warren Craghead - drawer
Mark Creegan (Jacksonville Florida) - JaxCal.org
Christiane D (Pittsburgh PA) - Christiane D
Roberta Fallon (Philadelphia PA) Fallon and Rosof's Artblog
Ann Gordon (Detroit MI) - Detroitarts
Cable Griffith (Seattle WA) - Cable Griffith
David Grim (Pittsburgh, PA) - Serendipity
Bill Gusky (Canton, CT) - Artblog Comments
Tracy Helgeson - Works by Tracy Helgeson
Stephanie Lee Jackson (Brooklyn NY) - Pretty Lady
JT Kirkland (Washington, D.C.) - Thinking About Art
Mary Klein (Minneapolis, MN) - stillifes
Eva Lake (Portland, OR) -Eva Lake
Steven LaRose - (Ashland OR) Steven LaRose
Michael Lease (Richmond VA) - Annabelle's Aspirin
Joanne Mattera (New York NY) Joanne Mattera Art Blog
Rob Matthews (Philadelphia PA) - Matthews The Younger
Jean McClung (Pittsburgh PA) Urban Bytes
John Morris (Pittsburgh, PA) - Digging Pittsburgh Arts
Loren Munk (Brooklyn NY) - James Kalm
Elizabeth Perry (Pittsburgh, PA) - Woolgathering
David Pohl (Pittsburgh, PA) - find the time to rhyme
Libby Rosof (Philadelphia PA) Fallon and Rosof's Artblog
Chris Rywalt - (Wood Ridge NJ) NYC Art
Marc Snyder (Pittsburgh, PA) - Fiji Island Mermaid Press

David Grim (Pittsburgh, PA) - Serendipity
Sophie Klahr (Pittsburgh PA) - the story of how it is
Amy Wilson New York, NY) - working

I learned to make Daguerreotypes this weekend at a workshop taught by Alyssa Salomon. It was sobering and so different from my current practice.

More

More Gigue

La Gigue du Mont-Royal

I'm back from vacation with Brad in Montreal. I had a good time-- pretty low key, lots of walking, lots (and lots) of time spent reading and thinking on trains. It was definitely a boon to SAMETIME and was a lot of fun in that respect.

For me to get to Montreal it's a 16 hour train ride. For Brad it's 4 hours less. I did pretty well sitting still on the train. Those who know me, know that I'm no fan of sitting still and the first few hours were tough but I resigned to teach myself to read something other than the New Yorker (which I still read every word of) and take advantage of the situation by doing some much needed catching up on the written word

Those who know me also know that I'm no fan of fiction (these days) so I hunkered down with one of my favorite writers, Michael Pollan and consumed large chunks of "The Omnivore's Dilemma" while on the train, finishing it this past Friday in a northside coffee shop pretending that I didn't notice that compared to Montreal, Richmond is the sticks. The book is an excellent, smart, sobering read that has given me a much greater appreciation for grasslands, and a much more skeptical view of corn- which despite being a grass appears to be taking over our lands and our bodies. This is no book review so let's move on...

I saw a few movies during the past week: Eastern Promises (which I keep wanting to call Eastern Express, the name of a Chinese restaurant in Frostburg) which was pretty poopy despite that Viggio guy killing people while he was naked in a bath house; "Two Days in Paris" which I thought was brilliant despite there not being a scene where some naked guy kills people in a bath house. Julie Delpy is brilliant; Kim and I just saw "In the Valley of Elah" on Friday night and it was pretty terrific despite the terrible Annie Lennox song, and over done final scene (think the Nick Cave song at the end of "Winged Migration" and you've got the idea).

I'm going to spend the next week (or so) posting a chronology of images from the trip and writing short captions. Overall, the trip was good-- good for my body and brain to not be in the facilities management business for a week and good to have the time to be able to reflect on what my life (when not on a train) looks like, and realize that I need to make some fundamental changes to ensure a life that I'd be interested in even if I wasn't the one living it.

Of course The Kim stays in the picture. It's some of the other stuff that's got to go.

Off to Montreal!

Mr. and Mr. SAMETIME are headed to Montreal until next Thursday. This means that from Saturday to Wednesday, all the SAMETIMES that happen will be happening at the SAMEPLACE.

Next project: SAMEPLACE

DeWitt Camera Centre Grand Opening

This post starts out really nice w/ Ed pinning a DeWitt Camera Centre button onto the sweater of a 94 year old woman who visits his store regularly...

And then next it leads you into one of the back rooms at DeWitt's-- which, when it was Clark's I bought most of my camera supplies there for nearly 10 years and I always wondered what was back there behind the desk, through the hallway...

And then here's a view of my work, installed in Ed's store on the yellow yellow walls, way up above the shelves. This picture was taken during the great opening where I saw many many friends, and where everyone was very happy b/c this was not just an art opening, and it was not just a sale commemorating the opening of a new store. It was much much more than that...

And then we jump way ahead to about midnight when Kris and Mark were fooling around (for the benefit of the camera?) on the shuffle bowl table at Dante's (where every band that I'd want to see were I in town --except for the three that I just thought of -- played). Following Kris and Mark's PDA, Mark and I had a good conversation about Senator Craig, anonymous gay sex, and our aversion to sex in public restrooms...

It appears here that Kris jumped off Mark and got busy chewing pretzels w/ Jeff and posing, but really, it didn't happen that way. And in fact, before this picture was taken Jeff and I were sitting with Kim doing our best to make her laugh by laughing ridiculously loud and ridiculously...

And finally, Dante's is in the same building that housed a bar very dear to many many people in Frostburg, a place where we all spent a lot of time... some of us working, some playing music, most of us drinking (sometimes while working), and I know this bar sink better than I know any other, and I must say I feel a slight tug on my heart each time I ignore it on my way out the bathroom door.

You're Invited!

What are you doing this weekend? Will you be in Cumberland Maryland? If so, stop by the new DeWitt's Camera Centre at 56 North Centre Street.

Further Dispatches from NC

Here's a picture of Kim, myself and the facilities guy (or as I like to say "the guy who I'd be if I worked there") getting everything set up for the portraits that Alyssa shot of the Art*o*Mat-ers.

The image was shot by Mary K, the web designer for Art*o*Mat and you can view her other pictures from the swap meet here.

Elin, an artist from upstate NY has some good coverage of Art*o*Mat goings-on at her blog will.love.logic

More from North Carolina

It's true.


This is also true-- she smiles when she sleeps.



True too that this is the biggest comb I've ever found.

Art*o*Mat 10th Anniversary Swap Meet!

I was Alyssa Salomon's assistant while she shot portraits of almost all the Art*o*Mat artists who came to the 10th Year Anniversary Swap Meet at SECCA in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

What an incredible, positive success is Clark Whittington's Art*o*Mat. What an incredible, positive success is Clark Whittington.

Don't know it? Check it out here. Make a prototype, send it in and begin your career as a vended artist. Who knows, you might make it into the Whitney.

I'll write more soon.

What I Know

Stephen and Susan are good friends...(*)

Jon Felton got married...

Kristin and Todd moved to Korea...

and Josh will join them in a month, or so.

* Picture by Susan or Stephen

Makin' Me Proud

Ed, a former student of mine, a staunch believer in western Maryland and especially Frostburg, and (although he won't admit its inevitability) future mayor of his hometown. Some of my fondest memories of teaching involve arguments between Ed and spoiled kids from Montgomery County who hated Frostburg. I would allow the arguments to become heated, to last as long as they needed to, secretly waiting for Ed to deliver the zinger that would send the pretentious pricks reeling and feeling out of place. Standing next to Ed in this picture are Wade and Debbie Clark-- two excellent people who became friends, and sometime confidants of mine when I'd shop for my photo supplies.

DeWitt buys camera store

From the Cumberland Times-News

CUMBERLAND — Edward DeWitt of Frostburg has purchased Clark’s Camera Centre from owner Wade Clark and plans to open the store as DeWitt Camera Centre in mid-August.

The business began more than 70 years ago as the hobby of original owner S. Louis Curl, who with his wife began making black and white prints from their own film in the early 1930s. There were no full-time photo stores, and having quality prints made was not easy.

Using the basement of their home as a darkroom, the Curls’ operation grew, and a few outlets were established elsewhere in Cumberland. They had two fixed locations before purchasing the vacant former First Federal Savings and Loan building in 1955 at 56 N. Centre St., which still is the site of the camera shop.

In 1972, Frank “Spike” Clark and two of his four children moved to Cumberland from Pearl River, N.Y., and bought the shop from the Curls. Their son Wade took over the business in 1990, bought it in 1993 and has run it with his wife, Debby.

DeWitt is a native of Frostburg and has been involved with photography since 2001, when he took his first class at Frostburg State University. He graduated from FSU in 2003 and attended the Ohio Institute of Photography in Dayton.

Clark’s stocks cameras, lenses, accessories and darkroom supplies, and film processing and printing is done on site. It offers repairs on all cameras and accessories and accepts special orders for equipment.

DeWitt plans to add an upstairs photography studio, a gallery for local photographers and photography classes for novices and experts. Business hours will be extended and the store will be open on weekends. For more information, call (301) 724-0393.

Where the Wall Was Swimming Pool Blue

As was planned, I painted over my work in DC this past weekend. Overall all I think the installation went well. I got a ton of feedback (including a tranny who was ready to protest my painting over it until she learned that I was the artist.) Although feeling vulnerable is never really comfortable, making myself available as an artist is what I want to be doing and I view this experience as street as studio, not street art.

Interesting too are the following images and text that were posted around the work:





Are they saying we don't need city-wide art projects, love is all we need? Does anyone recognize the lighthouse graphic?