Deconstruction / Art Contemplations

Mobius Movie Night (2)

2012-01-27T08:32:00.000-05:00

Video works by the Seeking Kali Collective will be screened in Cambridge this Saturday, January 28th at Mobius (55 Norfolk St.)

Link To Movie Night Event on Mobius website

Movie Night (2) is curated by Mobius Artist Group member EL Putnam. We'll be exhibiting three works. While it would be great if everyone came to Boston to see them, I'm going to assume that some who follow the Kali Collective's work won't make it so I'll post some links and descriptions.

The first is called Transmission, a short piece made as a tribute to a glitchy day trying to work out connectivity problems on Skype.

Transmission - Evertson/Vanden Eynde

We're also showing our animated audio work called Laments and Hope, an animated sound piece inspired by status messages from social networks. Short messages of frustration, hope or desires are recorded and layered similar to a musical round.

Laments and Hope - Evertson/Shulman/Vanden Eynde

The final piece is Kali's Sari. A Butoh performance by Shizu Homma, Jane Wang and Angela Ferrara with a hand painted sari featuring scenes from the Kali Shadow Theater is set to a score by Ian Evertson. The performance was recorded in NYC in May of 2011 and edited by Ria Vanden Eynde and William Evertson for the Seeking Kali Collective.

Kali's Sari - Vanden Eynde/Evertson

Seeking Kali is William Evertson, Susan Shulman and Ria Vanden Eynde.

Seeking Kali Website

Number 2

2012-01-03T07:04:00.000-05:00

Our second comic is now in the mail. Kalicorp Art Mysteries started as a "one of" project, meant to highlight some of our current projects in the 'advertising'. It turned out to be a lot of fun to produce a comic look at the mysteries of trying to navigate the Art World. We're artists....We all want to exhibit our work...we want to sell a few pieces...we want that damn grant! So, we soldier along putting in the studio time and filling the grant applications, networking and all the rest. Plus looking at a lot of art and wondering, "how the hell is THAT getting shown." So to take our frustrations to a new level we're working on a limited run comic that explains the Mysteries of the Art World.

Take all three of us at Kalicorp, (William Evertson Susan Shulman and Ria Vanden Eynde) and after an evening of exploring our research, we've come to the conclusion that.....well....can't just spoil the fun but we throw everything we've got into explaining the Art World to the layperson.

And a word about our "guest villains" - They're actually some of the nicest and most talented artists out there. We include links to their websites and art, be sure to check them out.

if you don't find Kalicorp at your local newsstand you can always get an issue by emailing us at seekingkali @ yahoo.com

So stay safe out there because the Art world is a dangerous place.

Art Mysteries

2011-12-19T15:34:00.002-05:00

Who doesn't love a good who-done-it? In our first issue we arrive at Art World hi jinks in mid action. The issue ends with some intriguing questions to address in issue 2 and beyond.

Of course the biggest mystery is why is Seeking Kali taking studio time to make limited run hand made comic books instead of working on our more serious works. After all, recent works have dealt with the Occupy movement and women's rights. Why not. Our collaborations over the past two years have run the gamut of print editions, artist books, theater, curating artist calls, video and animation. The Seeking Kali Collective continues to evolve ways of thinking about art process and especially the nature of collaborative efforts.

One way in which we work is to use the Google+ hangouts to discuss potential projects, progress on projects or opportunities to exhibit. The video conferencing is a form of virtual studio space that ideas great and small are discussed, discarded, debated or worked on. In the course of hashing out strategies we often bump up against the usual artists dilemmas; time, money and opportunity. (actually mostly lack of)
Our Kalicorp Art Mysteries is our way of taking a tongue in cheek look see into the problems that vex artists.
Fellow artist/ writer Philip Hartigan received our first issue and wrote a wonderfully thoughtful piece on the Seeking Kali Collective. He actually explains us better than we do. Philip is a Chicago based artist and his blog Praeterita covers not only his own work but many other visual artist that use narrative in their work.

Issue #2 is coming sometime in early January. There are still a few copies of #1 - contact me with your address.

Grievance Torrent

2011-12-02T19:14:00.001-05:00

New video animation from the Seeking Kali Artist Collective. As we’ve seen the news coverage (or lack of) concerning the Occupy Wall Street movement there has been an endless stream of reporters seemingly baffled as to it’s purpose. After my first visit in early October the message seemed clear enough and despite there being many manifestations of the outrage, one problem seems all too clear. Corporate greed and influence has to end.

This video/ animation simply takes a variety of audio samples either personally recorded or from publicly posted video clips and begins to stack them in the manner of a vocal “round”.

Produced for Storefront for Art and Architecture's Strategies for Public Occupation.

The Seeking Kali Artist Collective is William Evertson, Susan Shulman and Ria Vanden Eynde.

ABAD in Seattle

2011-11-11T06:08:00.001-05:00

William Evertson - For A Book About Death - Seattle

It’s been a little over two years since the first A Book About Death exhibition at the Emily Harvey Foundation Gallery in NYC. In 2009 I participated in that group show which included almost 500 international artists. The project was the brainchild of Matthew Rose, who asked artists to contribute 500 postcard versions of our work on the subject of death that would be given away during the course of the exhibit.

Matthew took his cue from an original work of the same name by the late Ray Johnson. Those of us who attended the opening could never have anticipated the interest in the show, with a line of people waiting to enter the gallery extending up Broadway to Prince St. Nor would we have anticipated that it would have traveled so far and been exhibited in so many venues.

William Evertson - Verso of A Book About Death - Seattle

November 11^th is the opening of the 25^th edition of this show at the Quetzalcoatl Gallery in Seattle, Washington.

Nov 11 - Dec 10, 2011Opening: Nov 11 6pm-2amClosing reception: Dec 10, 6pm-2amAlmendra SandovalQUETZALCOATL GALLERY3209 Beacon Ave SSeattle, WA 98144 USA

Archive of ABAD Exhibitions link

Copies of A Book About Death are in the collections of:

2010 Museum of Modern Art, Wales, UK
2009 Museum of Modern Art, New York
2009 LosAngeles County Museum of Art, CA

October is

2011-10-11T12:47:00.003-04:00

- October is breast cancer awareness month and if you scroll down a bit to my last post you see my overview of the F**K the Big C exhibit. The show featured work by three friends and wonderful artists, each one a cancer survivor and an inspiration.

Ria Vanden Eynde, Betty Esperanza and Branka Djordjević have come through their cancers with a positive spirit and each in their own way brought their process to light through the exhibition.

I collaborate with Ria as part of the Seeking Kali Artist Collective and was delighted to make editions from her original pieces.

Ria is donating a portion of the sale price of every print to My Hope Chest. This is a Florida based charity who's mission is helping uninsured breast cancer survivors afford breast reconstruction surgery.

We hope to be able to make at least a $500 donation by the end of October. I invite our friends and supporters to share this post and to consider purchasing a print from one of the editions during the month of October. A beautiful example of [He]ART'S Healing Power.

Link: View and purchase prints from Ria's editions Here

Post F**K Cancer

2011-09-27T09:47:00.001-04:00

El Sueno - Ria Vanden Eynde

My friend and fellow Seeking Kali collaborator, Ria Vanden Eynde of Belgium was in the States recently showcasing her work at Jennifer Kosarek's Eve N Odd Gallery. The exhibit, F**K the Big C, features work of cancer survivors Betty Esperanza, Branka Djordjević and Ria Vanden Eynde. All three artists exhibited new works that reveal their elevated intensity, passion for creation and a glimpse of how their cancer and treatments transformed their art practices. Over the summer I worked with Ria to make small print editions from several of her oils for this show. Earlier this month I traveled to Florida to deliver the prints for the signing and the exhibit. I've worked closely with Ria on art collaborations for over two years but it was always across the ocean and by skype, emails and Facebook. It was a great experience meeting, documenting the exhibit and being a part of bringing the works of these remarkable women to Florida.

I’ve struggled more than usual to blog about this exhibit. Probably because I collaborate with Ria on many other projects outside of her cancer work I fear writing something that typecasts her as a “cancer artist”; that her work is simply about that aspect of her life. Her biography reveals that she has a PhD in Mathematics, a certificate in Gestalt Therapy and perhaps most revealing is Buddhist studies. The later, I find essential to her work, for it touches on her attention to the details of an examined life and how our human sufferings unite us. Ria could certainly be teaching advanced mathematics or working as a therapist, yet through her work as an artist she is able to concentrate our attentions on the transformative aspects of the trials we endure throughout life. Her art has content, it is not art about art but rather art about life. I sometimes refer to her work as activist art. Not a blatant in your face superficial take on our common sufferings, but a realization that these trials progress throughout our lives, one after the other and how we cope with change is what defines our lives.

Aggressed Body - Ria Vanden Eynde

Ria told me about the exhibit last winter and we discussed how to work out the problems printing small limited editions. Ria handled the scanning or the photography of her original pieces while here in the US I would receive the files and make trial proofs which were sent to Belgium for suggestions and final go ahead.

I have to admit that although Ria had approved the final versions of everything that was printed, since I never saw the oils I was somewhat apprehensive that after all the work and travel they weren't going to be faithful to the originals. As it turned out, we both loved the final printing and had a great time hanging examples from the newly signed editions.

Works from this limited print series are still available online through our Seeking Kali website. The sale of these small editions of nine prints each directly benefit a charity called My HopeChest, which is the only national breast reconstruction organization working to help “uninsured” women heal completely.

Ria Vanden Eynde signing print editions at the Eve N Odd Gallery, St. Petersburg, FL

Jennifer Kosharek of Eve N Odd Gallery (in red) and Ria Vanden Eynde (center) on the set of NBC Daytime prior to the opening

During the opening Ria read her series of Acrostic Poems from her "Dear Thyroid" series. The following video shows a small excerpt (the full performance is on Vimeo)

Ria Vanden Eynde and F**K the Big C

http://www.riavandeneynde.com/

The KALI Edition

2011-09-20T17:04:00.004-04:00

The Kali artists with the three AP copies

We began our limited edition portfolio on the social networkplatform of Facebook with that status line where it asks, “What’s on yourmind?” At the time I was staring at atanghka on my studio wall and I idly wrote, “The manifestations of Kali.” Ria Vanden Eynde of Belgium, an artist I hadexchanged some mail art with replied and suggested collaboration on apiece. Soon Susan Shulman of Canadajoined the conversation and the idea of a limited print edition based on theGoddess Kali was born. We had become acquainted through participation in thegroup show, A Book About Death at the Emily Harvey Gallery in NYC in 2009.Although we never actually met, we were acquainted with each other’s work fromthe online blog documenting the exhibit. Over the course of several weeks we worked out some rough guidelines;double sided folios would be folded and placed unbound in a clamshell case.

We set no deadline but as we shared pieces byposting on Facebook several artists surprised us with their own Kali images.Eventually, we decided to announce an open call for this type of image and werepleasantly surprised when, by last December, we had over 100 works by 80artists. The works ranged fromtraditional media, mixed technique, spoken word, video and performance. These we documented on a dedicated blog thencompiled a DVD of the material. The DVD has since made debuts in Berlin,Montreal and Boston.

My work on Kaliwent the route of performance as well and I developed a shadow theaterproduction that was performed on Long Island at CW Post and in Boston at theMobius Artist Space. During this period we collaborated on several more projects including posters for International Women's Day and videos, and works for new venues of A Book About Death.

We finally hadenough material by spring of 2011 and I began a process of making trial proofsthat were sent to Canada and Belgium for approvals. The printing and case construction wascomplete over the course of the summer.

The six hands of the artist group Seeking Kali

All that remained was to finally all meet so the works could besigned. While I hadmeet Susan twice on occasions when she visited NYC, both of had yet to meet Riaoutside of our weekly Skype progress sessions. We settled on September in NYC since Ria was traveling to the US for ashow of her work in Florida at that time. All that remained was to determine where to sign the edition.

Taken at Hyperallergic Headquarters in NYC (photo credit: Hrag Vartanian)

We contacted Hrag Vartanian at the artblogazine Hyperallergic and he graciously agreed to host us as we set up,signed the works and documented the process. We were pleasantly surprised that that he wrote a short piece on us in Hyperallergic, given thetiming of his other deadlines.

The 18month journey was complete on September 16^th as we sat in theWilliamsburg, Brooklyn Headquarters and signed.

The edition, ‘Kali’, rests in a handmade cloth covered 9” x 12” x 2”drop spine case with the title and artist’s names in 24k goldleaf. We produced this as an edition of 9 with anadditional 3 artist proofs. The bookscontain 6 double-sided prints from each of us. A hand-stitched booklet containsartist statements, biographies and screen grabs from our original Facebookconversation completes the edition. Folio sheets are printed on Moab 190 Entrada rag with the Epson Stylus Pro 3800 ink jet.

The edition is availablestarting in October through TBCL (The Book Collectors Library) a Montreal based dealer of Livre d'Artiste. I'll make the link to TBCL when the book is posted to their site. More information on ourcollective works and future projects can be found at seekingkali.com

Inside the Kali edition case

Art in the Dark

2011-09-06T09:03:00.000-04:00

The road to our house after Hurricane Irene

I live in southern Connecticut and was hit rather hard byrecent Hurricane Irene. While our homefaired well, the road I live on had many downed trees that took out the powerlines. It took over a week for thepower to be restored. I realize that it isa rather minor inconvenience in comparison to the standard of living mostpeople on the planet are forced to endure. Still, it was enough time for me to reflect on the practice and processof artists in other times or other circumstances; the times before instant worldwide communication viathe Internet, before phones, or places where light at night means flickeringcandlelight. The work I usually do onthe computer ceased. There was no videoediting, no blogging, no photo editing, no submissions for grants. This was all replaced with the realizationthat as an artist I was in the dark, seemingly invisible or at leasthandicapped in efforts to have my work seen. It was an event that I had plenty oftime to prepare for since I could see the storm’s track updated and predictedby excited weathermen. Thedire warnings were in place, so about three days out I went to stock up on therecommended batteries and cell phone chargers and of course there were none tobe had….anywhere. I’m not quite surewhen this happened, but note to self: you have to start very early to beat thesurvivalist crowd….very early!

Mypreparations were a bit more naïve. Doall art requiring electricity STAT! Makesure that everything I had agreed to print for my Belgian friend Ria Vanden Eynde wasfinished in time for the F**K the Big C exhibition in Florida. Make sure that the editionsfor our Kali Folios were printed and complete in time to be signed in NYC the next week. Nail down various hotel and airlinereservations. And then the storm hit.Not huge by hurricane standards but big enough to knock out the power to mostof Connecticut. So art could still bedone during the day, but nothing requiring power. Want to wash a brush? Haul up some pond water. Frankly, forced camping isn’t as much fun asa planned camping trip but I did get a chance to focus on some basics. I printed from a woodblock, made the foliocases to house our editions and spend several evenings gilding by flashlightand an oil lamp.

From a friends house Ichecked up on the artworld and discovered that art critic Jerry Saltz who wasvacationing had announced several days before that all was well because powerwas back on in Connecticut. Ha, I thought, perhaps just in the sections that count. Jerry’s comments on his popular Facebook page werevery tongue in cheek concerning the trials and tribulations faced in thatsection of the state (running low on supplies of pate de foie gras etc) Now that I am sitting with a laptop, water ontap, a running refrigerator and all the comforts of the first world I’mthanking lucky stars that this was not worse. I’ve also had enough dark nights to reflect on the parts of the worldstill suffering from disasters and wonder who is sitting by firelightstruggling to make art.

Mail Art Party

2011-08-07T22:17:00.000-04:00

I've hosted several Art Parties for local friends over the last couple of years. They are informal affairs where we gather over finger food and art supplies. The subject matter for the group is emailed to everyone ahead of time and tend to be a bit off beat. Topics like blindfolded painting, paper maché pizzas and masks. Over the course of an evening we eat, drink, chat and create and everyone leaves with art. Last Sundays event was mail art and we gathered to support my friend, artist Ria Vanden Eynde, who is gathering mail art as part of her contribution to the F**K the Big C exhibit opening in September. Along with cancer survivors Betty Esperanza of Canada and Branka Djordjević of Luxemburg, they are featured at the Eve N odd Gallery in St. Petersburg, Florida during the month of September. The exhibit features original work from theses 'three sistahs'. The works are inspirational and the message is that these artists have emerged as stronger women and artists after going through a cancer trajectory, fully determined to Live their Art Life to the fullest. Over the course of the last several months I've worked with Ria to produce small giclée editions of her originals. A portion of sales from the editions help support My Hope Chest, a Seminole, Florida charity that aids low income women afford breast reconstruction. The mail art call helps support the American Cancer Society Benjamin Mendick Hope Lodge in Tampa Florida.

Our Art Party focused on Ria's call for artists to submit 4 x 6 examples of mail art to the gallery and during the course of the exhibition visitors may take them home for a donation. The cards are also featured on Ria's mail art blog. There's still plenty of time to make some art to support Ria, Betty and Branka and cancer charities; there's even time to organize your own Art Party.

F**K the Big C!

2011-07-09T04:54:00.002-04:00

The F**K Cancer show’s title alone is enough to raise some eyebrows, but the art in this three women exhibition is certain to do more than that. This international show features the work of Ria Vanden Eynde (Belgium), Betty Esperanza (Canada) and Branka Djordjević (Luxembourg). The art practice of each is a heart felt response to the condition of having and battling the big C…cancer. It serves both as an object lesson and a testament of their courage to persevere and produce their art.

I know all three from their contributions to the A Book About Death exhibits that I’ve contributed to and which continues to expand into many worldwide venues.

One of the women, Ria Vanden Eynde and I have collaborated since 2009 on many artworks and over the last 18 months have teamed with Susan Shulman of Canada into the artist collective Seeking Kali. Although we live in different countries, through the connectivity of the Internet and Skype, we work in collaboration from virtual studios that seem as close as the next room. Earlier this spring in preparation for the F**K C show, I told Ria that I would like to do the printing of her pieces for the exhibit.

Aggressed Body - ©Ria Vanden Eynde

Cancer is something that has effected my family, my friends and many fellow artists and I wanted to be able to find some way to help “the three sistahs” who are exhibiting. Over the last two months several tubes have crossed the Atlantic to Ria in Belgium. The tubes contain the trial proofs for the editions and give Ria control over the color differences that can occur when translating an original oil or pastel into a giclée print.

The time has come where the actual prints are being made and we are both very pleased with how true to the originals they look.

Sueno - ©Ria Vanden Eynde

Ria is offering the prints for sale via our Seeking Kali website. Aside from having a great opportunity to purchase one of Ria’s terrific prints, she is donating $40 from each sale to the Florida based charity My Hope Chest, providing aid for women requiring reconstructive surgeries after mastectomy’s.

There is also another way for you to help. Ria is organizing a mail art call to coincide with the exhibit. Pieces received at the gallery by September 8^th will be available for purchase by donation which also benefits My Hope Chest. Complete details on how to participate on the F**K C mail art call can be found at the tumblr link at the bottom of this post.
F**K Cancer opens September 8^th at Jennifer Kosharek’s eve N odd Gallery, located at 645 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg, FL. The exhibit opens 9/8/11 and runs through September.

Link to F**K the Big C tumblr blog
_ contribute your mail art to F**K Cancer

Seeking Kali and F**K the Big C
_ pre-order prints

Medusa Gaze

2011-06-27T07:17:00.000-04:00

_We draw from deep personal experience in our art...or at least the best of our art. Getting to that point of experience is the most difficult part of an art career. I've seen my share of art about art and art that needs a mass of explanation to appreciate. Translating an experience into resonance is something we strive for and it never gets easy; it seems to take hours, days even years in the studio to make the occasional breakthrough where an experience is broadly felt and hits that resonant tone with the viewer. My fellow Seeking Kali collaborators, Susan Shulman, Ria Vanden Eynde and I have a piece like that now. The Medusa Gaze is a simple piece but it draws on a shared experience.

Susan, Ria and I work from different countries as an artist collective; Susan is in Canada, Ria in Belgium and I'm in the US, yet we make it work via Skype, Facebook and email. It's almost like we're in adjoining studios and over the last year we've collaborated in several ways: working on separate projects that are exhibited together and "group think" pieces. The latter is different from the stereotypical artist alone in his or her studio trying to express that lifetime of experience. More like "cloud" works or a musicians jam session.

The Medusa Gaze started in Facebook with Ria describing a particularly scary encounter of sexual harassment in a public space outside her library in Belgium. Susan adds her outrage and suggests we blog it and I post a pix of a large scale projection of Ria on a building with the words "I will not be intimidated."

Radio Interview from June 24th, 2011 on CJAD 800 (Canada) featuring Seeking Kali artist Susan Shulman discussing the launch of the Medusa Gaze during the Dr. Laure Betito program "Passions". Medusa Gaze is a collaborative art project by William Evertson, Susan Shulman and Ria Vanden Eynde.

We're doing both. Plus we're collecting stories and pictures of other women for inclusion in our guerrilla projections to end sexual harassment. Our current artist call is calling for women to submit either a picture or short video segment of their best Medusa Gaze - the face and expression of disapproval. Submissions are included in our guerrilla projections. Details on how you can participate are available on our tumblr project blog where we document our progress or on our Facebook Events Page.

Unlike silent bystanders or society (men and women) who excuse or overlook this bullying behavior in our public spaces, I refuse to be a token male and strongly feel the need to be involved. Every woman I know has a story similar to Ria's. The fact is our society too often turns a blind eye or worse blames the victim in a never ending feedback loop that ensures second class social status is simply unacceptable.

Susan, Ria and I are artists first rather than activists; as artists we have a vision and tools to make experience visible. Join us.

Hyperallergic Mail Art Show

2011-06-19T10:14:00.000-04:00

_Preparing the package_

One of my tic tac toe projects surfaced in Brooklyn yesterday at the opening of Presents: Mail Art Show sponsored by the blogazine Hyperallergic. Who doesn't love getting mail art? Editor Hrag Vartanian and co-curator Kate Wadkins liked it enough to begin a mail art feature that documented their packages over the course of the last three months. Friday night's exhibition featured 125 works ranging from postcards to art in plastic liter bottles, with over 100 artists represented. I occasionally send out the little carved seal stamps I make as exchange with other artists for mail art received. Back in April I carved a couple for the Hyperallergic folks; mostly just because I love their writing, coverage and insight into the art world.

_Crowded opening at the Brooklyn offices of Hyperallergic_

I had a chance to talk with editor/curator Hrag Vartanian about their ongoing feature and the development of mailart in general. Many credit artist Ray Johnson with bringing the practice into widespread recognition as an artform in it's own right, although as Hrag pointed out there have been great examples circulating as long as there has been mail.

_Couple playing with the tic tac toe stamps_

When I got to the opening I found that my piece was actually place on a small table with a couple of chairs available for people to sit and play with the work...just as intended. In fact from an article Hyperallergic published they had taken the time to review my website and blog for more info about this ongoing project and learned that the actual game play is integral to the work and that I do performance based work with them.

_Shadow Theater still_

I could see from looking over the art at the opening that plenty of research went into the project. Many works included instructions for assembly, performance etc; one referenced a video of the packing of the box that contained the URLof the video. I included not only the tic tac toe stamps but also references to other ongoing projects such as the Kali projects I collaborate on with Susan Shulman and Ria Vanden Eynde and an "analogue mountain climber" group blog.

_Susan gets the Blues - from Analogue Narratives_

My last look at the art - (backwards..I knew that ;-)

Shadow Theater at Mobius

2011-06-05T18:59:00.000-04:00

As part of the Archetypology Exhibit, curated by Ivana Rezek, the Seeking Kali Shadow Theater will be staged during the opening this Friday. (June 10th. - performance time 8:30)

The Theater combines puppets, hand drawn sets, cut outs and live performers in a 15 minute performance loosely based on traditional Nang puppetry and morality fables. In this version as the goddess blithely goes about her business of creating a perfect world she finds various demons and forces bedeviling her efforts. The theater design and characters are by William Evertson with an original musical score by composer Larry Cohen of Canada.

Throughout the opening the submissions from the 2010 Seeking Kali artist call will be shown. Over 80 international artists are represented in the eight and a half minute looped video. The call contains a variety of works submitted on the subject of the Hindu goddess Kali. The call was curated by Susan Shulman, Ria Vanden Eynde and William Evertson during the fall of 2010.

The video and poetry submissions will also be screened throughout the opening.

Mobius is located in Boston at 725 Harrison Avenue. Reception from 7-9 with artist talks and light refreshment.

The Seeking Kali DVD containing this archived material is available via Paypal from our website.

ABAD 23 - The Ties That Bind

2011-05-24T15:40:00.000-04:00

_A Seeking Kali poster for the next A Book About Death exhibition_

(Download a free copy of this poster)

Among other art work coming out of the studio this month is a poster design for the next incarnation of ABAD. The Mathew Rose concept for a group exhibit linked to the father of mail art, Ray Johnson, first premiered at the Emily Harvey Gallery in NYC in September of 2009 and now is in it's 23rd showing.

ABAD - The Ties That Bind is curated by LuAnn Palazzo and will run from July 31st. to September 2nd in Bay Shore, N.Y at the Second Avenue Firehouse Gallery.

Link to the Ties That Bind exhibition blog.

LuAnn will be hand binding the submissions to this show and the finished volume will be on exhibit along with the individual page submissions.

To help with the costs associated with the project she has launched a Kickstarter Project fund that is currently running. Several fine givebacks are available for donors.

This is an open call with work being accepted until July 15th.

Our Seeking Kali collaboration for the Ties That Bind (we wrapped ourselves then Susan brought us together and printed it out)

Seeking Kali is William Evertson, Ria Vanden Eynde and Susan Shulman

For more information about the history of the A Book About Death series of exhibits visit the ABAD Exhibition Archive.

The Scroll

2011-05-09T19:43:00.000-04:00

Scroll Sari at the Mobius Artist Group's Wearable Art Runway Show (photo courtesy of Bob Raymond)

The idea of Scroll Sari has it's origin in the ceremonial unrolling of a traditional artwork in the scroll format. These works while often seen in museums fully extended are generally meant to be unrolled a section at a time revealing the narrative often at the heart of the work.

The images here are based on the ink drawing that form part of the Kali Shadow Theater, an intimate production featuring shadows cast from ink drawings, cut outs, puppets and live actors.

The Scroll Performance

The Scroll Sari premiered at the Mobius Artist Group's Wearable Art Runway Show, May 6th, 2011. The show, curated by Mobius artists Jane Wang, Alison Safford and James Ellis Coleman turned out to be a standing room only affair in Boston's south end. Master of Ceremonies Tom Evans likened it to Dada events purposely oversold to create an aura of excitement.

A Brief Look at the Entire Lineup of Wearable Art

Scroll Sari - Hand painted fabric 20' x 3.5'
Kali mask - painted plastic with straw. Birdman mask - painted copper mesh with goldleaf.

Special thanks to Seeking Kali collaborators Susan Shulman for the fish motif and Ria Vanden Eynde for the poems used in the design.
Complete information on the artists, designers and models from the 2011 Wearable Art Runway Show.

Thanks Hrag

2011-04-29T22:05:00.002-04:00

The blogazine Hyperalleric gave my work a nice plug this week. I sent off a few of my mailart pieces as well as a couple of my handstamps to their Brooklyn offices and in return Hrag Vartanian wrote up a nicely researched piece. Plus, he had to find my website because I didn't include explanations in my package. I've been involved with A Book About Death, a project originated by Matthew Rose, so a few of those pieces went in. (including one of the originals from the 2009 Emily Harvey Foundation Exhibit that resides deep in the vaults of MoMA).

Some of our Seeking Kali announcements went in as well as an example from the Analogue Narratives project where a group of us are struggling to finish Rene Daumal's Mount Analogue novel.

But my tic tac toe game pieces made the biggest hit. (probably the big H didn't hurt).

The best part? I came across my work while looking at some of their other reviews. Always great arts coverage and insights.

Hyperallergic also publishes a weekly newsletter as well as LABS which explores weekly art themes and their bliptv channel is always worth a look.

Wearable Art

2011-04-25T16:34:00.001-04:00

May 6th is the Mobius Wearable Art Runway Show and Seeking Kali will be featuring a Scroll Sari. The inspiration for this piece is the oriental scroll art, and in this case a scroll large enough to be worn by two people. The 20' long fabric is hand painted with scenes derived from the Kali Shadow Theater.

Detail of progress on the Seeking Kali Sari

The scenes are an updated take on the traditional myth of the goddess Kali in which she is called forth in a battle against demons throwing the world into chaos.

The piece will be modeled during the show by my wife and myself at opposite ends of the sari; masked as Kali and a demon.

Gyotaku is the ancient Japanese folk art of painting fish. The first Gyotaku were created to preserve the true record and size of species caught by Japanese anglers as far back as 1862.

I'm using this technique along with sumi-e to create the images on the fabric.

The Mobius event blog will be featuring the sari this Friday. (Now Up)

Props to the two other members of Seeking Kali, Ria Vanden Eynde and Susan Shulman for their input and encouragement.

More information on the Seeking Kali artist collective can be found on our website.

Omaggio a Ray Opening

2011-04-11T08:26:00.000-04:00

-The view from the exhibition hall - Un Libro Sulla Morte Omaggio a Ray Johnson-

The KaliRay Flip Book is a well traveled tome. In light of it's origin as a collaboration, it has trekked from the USA to Belgium to Canada, back to the US and finally on to Treviso, Italy. Curator Virginia Milici has assembled a collection of over 100 artist books, all hand made volumes to honor the late Ray Johnson.

The exhibit held in the Comune di Morgano on Piazza Indipendenza while lending a very formal overtone to works dedicated to the often irreverent Johnson, seems a very fitting setting as another edition of the A Book About Death exhibitions.

These exhibits originated as the brainchild of artist Matthew Rose with an initial exhibit in New York City at the Emily Harvey Foundation Gallery in 2009. Almost two years later the concept of these exhibitions remain fresh with new international venues emerging as curators continue to embrace the concept and level of engagement by a diverse and talented pool of artists.

In a departure from soliciting a single page contribution from artists, Milici's omaggio focused on the artist book. The collaboration with Susan Shulman and Ria Vanden Eynde on the KaliRay expanded to the production of a limited edition of 20 unique hand bound pieces; one of which is to remain in the Italian archive. (purchase details can be found on our website)

The making of the KaliRay Flip Book

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Un Libro Sulla Morte Omaggio a Ray Johnson - April 9 -17.

Site Work

2011-04-09T07:50:00.000-04:00

-The new Seeking Kali website is up. After several weeks of collecting files testing templates, writing, photographing and updating, our artist group finally has a nice clean site to show for our efforts. I'm part of the artist group Seeking Kali which began in early 2010 over some Facebook conversation.

From our splash page:

Seeking Kali began as a response to the eternal Facebook "What's on your mind?" query. William typed in the thought, "the manifestations of Kali", Ria Vanden Eynde responded with her thoughts, Susan Shulman joined the thread and we were off. To Where? We had no idea as we exchanged comments on goddess iconography, indigenous belief systems, concepts of time, western perceptions, travels and sources.

That day, I was staring at a tangka, hanging in my studio that depicts the wheel of time being devoured by Kali. This was one of my first art purchases. I was in my first year of college, lucky to be there by virtue of a scholarship and yet I went and spent some of the meager funds on art. I don't quite know why to this day my younger self, fresh from rural mid New York state, thought to buy that art. I had never been exposed to Eastern art of any type; yet somehow was drawn to the piece. I have always had it hanging where ever I've had a studio as a reminder of the beginning of a journey.

So, that day in the studio as I glanced at it once again I was struck with the fact that I'd never really researched the rich iconography or the origins of the image. One of those insightful moments when you realize how little you really know.

I typed "The manifestations of Kali" onto my facebook page and within minutes I was immersed in a conversation with two artist friends, Ria Vanden Eynde and Susan Shulman, that over time has led us to curating an artist call, collaboration on many works and inclusion in several international exhibitions.

I have learned from this collaboration, especially as our portfolio of images relating to Kali is coming closer to completion, that we are incorporating some of those manifestations to bring our work beyond artistic interpretation of the Kali myth.
As we began to think of ourselves as a collective, we find that submerging our individual egos and combining our many arms of differing skills is very fruitful and enlightening, not only to works we create in concert but to our personal work as well.

So welcome to the Seeking Kali website an archive and record of our collaborative efforts. Seeking Kali is William Evertson, Susan Shulman and Ria Vanden Eynde.

New Website

2011-04-04T17:59:00.000-04:00

-My new website is finally done and published-

http://www.williamevertson.net/

The hardest part is deciding where to stop; but I am quite pleased that I finally got to it. I focused mainly on the last two or so years with just a bit of history. Only as good as your last work?

Only problem - this blog was completely ignored lately. Next - update the upcoming exhibitions.

Analogue Narratives

2011-03-06T18:09:00.000-05:00

-View of Mount Analogue from the Isle of Stability - William Evertson-

One of the projects I'm currently involved with is Analogue Narratives. A loose collaboration with several artists adding to the unfinished novel by French author René Daumal. At the time of his death in 1944 Daumal's book Mount Analogue: A Novel of Symbolically Authentic Non-Euclidean Adventures in Mountain Climbing, remained unfinished.
Analogue Narratives is a web based work and ongoing with new art and chapters added every week or so as story-lines are pushed forward by our contributors.

Daumal's original book is an allegorical tale concerning the adventure of climbing a mountain in which he uses alpinism as a foil to describe spiritual journeys and on occasion art.

"Alpinism is the art of climbing mountains by confronting the greatest dangers with the greatest prudence. Art is used here to mean the accomplishment of knowledge in action. You cannot always stay on the summits. You have to come down again... So what’s the point? Only this: what is above knows what is below, what is below does not know what is above. While climbing, take note of all the difficulties along your path. During the descent, you will no longer see them, but you will know that they are there if you have observed carefully. There is an art to finding your way in the lower regions by the memory of what you have seen when you were higher up. When you can no longer see, you can at least still know"

A spontaneous decision to continue Daumal's trek began in October of 2010 by a small group of artists who had been discussing the work on Facebook. Indeed this story continues to unfold as an example of Exquisite Corpse written on a Facebook thread. The commentary and narratives as well as the pictures, sounds and links form our version of possible endings for Daumal's classic tale of searching.

California artist Mara Thompson suggested the reading and after a few weeks of on again off again fragmented posts, Ria Vanden Eynde, my Belgian Seeking Kali collaborator suggested we take the plunge of finishing the classic.

Several months later we are fourteen chapters in with no great insights but instead our writing style or lack of style has led us on many tangents that serve well for our collage, drawings and video work. In fact the writing serves to challenge each of the contributors to come up with ways of illustrating improbable happenings.

Click to view Analogue Narratives.

Top: Mara Thompson, William Evertson, Susan Shulman, Ria Vanden Eynde, Lee Goldberg, Cathy Nolan Vincevic
Bottom: Kathleen Hughes, Bibiana Padilla Maltos, Mark Bloch, angela Ferrara, Jane Wang, Christopher Reynolds

Visit Analogue Narratives for links to individual artists.

Works from Seeking Kali 2010 - DVD

2011-02-23T14:40:00.000-05:00

After almost a month of work, the submission DVD from the 2010 Seeking Kali artist call that I co-curate is ready for purchase. I first started mentioning this project in a post from August 18th, 2010 by announcing the new Seeking Kali blog and the artist call.

At first glance many friends have asked "Why Kali?" Over a year ago I posted a status on Facebook that read "Contemplating the manifestations of Kali". At the time I was sitting in my studio looking at a tangka I have on display that shows a demon version of the goddess consuming the wheel of time. Almost at once I found myself in a fascinating discussion thread with two artists I knew from my work on A Book About Death, Ria Vanden Eynde of Belgium and Susan Shulman of Montreal Canada. The thread grew to hundreds of entries as we explored the myth, paradox and cultural identity wrapped up in this Hindu deity.

We've combined our efforts to bring some of these discussions to a broader public with a Facebook group and the artist call that we began to curate in the fall of 2010. I was surprised at the eventual number of artists of all types of media this narrow topic drew.

We are now offering the complete 2010 artist call in a DVD format for those who want an archive of the project. This contains 80 minutes of content ranging from painting, collage and mixed technique to video, music and poetry. All in all, this is a fascinating cross cultural look at Kali by artists from around the world.

The Seeking Kali DVD will premier with a screening at Prima Center Berlin during the Archetypology exhibition, curated by Ivana Režek. The Berlin exhibit opens February 25th and runs through March 23rd. This Seeking Kali submissions DVD will also be screened in Boston and Joliette, QC in the coming months.
We are offering the DVD and an accompanying 12 page booklet for $20.00 plus $5.00 shipping/handling (US) via Paypal.

Shipping is via the postal service - expect delivery within 5 -7 days (7 -10 for overseas)

If you require PAL format (or have any questions) please contact us via our email

New Video

2011-02-15T13:50:00.001-05:00

_work in progress - burning DVDs and assembling the documentation booklet for the Seeking Kali artist call_

The artist call that I have been co-curating finished in January and now the documentation has commenced. Ria Vanden Eynde, Susan Shulman and I organized this call back in August and over the course of five months had over 80 artists submit works. The art encompasses poetry, spoken work, music, video, sculpture as well as performance, painting and mixed techniques.

While the Seeking Kali blog we created archives all the submissions, we are working on two forms of hard copy archive for our artists. A DVD containing the blog material is almost ready for release. A book format will be out in March. The photo above is a hint of the final DVD. There will be ordering instructions on the blog or our facebook group soon. The DVD is especially valuable as a compilation of the video, performance and poetry.

The DVD also contains the eight minute segment below that features the painting, collage and mixed media works.

A video presentation of the painting, collage and mixed technique artists who submitted to the 2010 Seeking Kali artist call. Links to individual artists can be found on the Seeking Kali blog at seekingkali.blogspot.com. Soundtrack by Ian Evertson.

The complete works that will be featured on the DVD are viewable on the Seeking Kali blog, including the musicians, poets and video artists. The DVD release is scheduled for next week and will available via a link on this page or on the Seeking Kali blog.

The Seeking Kali DVD will be screened at the opening of Archetypology

The works that have been submitted to Seeking Kali's DVD are being screened on February 25th at the opening of Archtypology. Curator and artist Ivana Režek has organized a series of exhibitions for this show including the Prima Center Berlin where our first screening will take place.

100 Artists 100 Dreams

2011-02-04T17:33:00.000-05:00

_The artist preview for the 100 Artists 100 Dreams launches with and opening Saturday, Feb. 5th. at ART ON THE WALL Virtual Gallery, Deep Listening Institute, located at 77 Cornell Street, Kingston, N.Y.

The project is curated by Sadee Brathwaite, the founder of La Leona Arts and is a long term project involving artists, musicians and performers. The project continues with a film screening this fall as well as as exhibitions in 2012 and 2013.

Two Boys Remember - © William Evertson - mixed media collage

My first piece for this project, Two Boys Remember, will be featured on www.deeplistening.org during February.

The Invasion Continues

2011-01-23T17:46:00.000-05:00

If a picture is worth a thousand words then this series of photos from artist and independent curator, Angela Ferrara of Brazil is priceless. This is a quick look at the installation of the Troyart exhibition which opened on January 11th in Sao Paulo. My Dharma Girl robot is on display until January 30th. Looks like she is in good company.

Mixed media assemblage with gold-leaf.

The robots have completed their take over of MuBE (Museu Brasileiro da'Escultura. Many thanks to Angela Ferrara, the staff at MuBE and Troyart to make this exhibit a success. (photos: Angela Ferrara)

Robots Invade Brazil

2011-01-13T20:32:00.000-05:00

_Dharma Girl is part of Troyart at MuBE - Opening Friday January 14th, 2011_

The Museu Brasileiro daEscultura (MuBE) in Sao Paulo, Brazil hosts an international exhibit of artist modified robots from the Troyart collection of toys.

My piece for this show is based on the original toy provided by Troyart and then customized with collage elements from mandalas, gold leaf and original art.

Building "Dharma Girl" a project for the Troyart International Exhibition at Museu Brasileiro daEscultura (MuBE) of Brasil. They will be exhibited early in 2011.

First look at the toy robot received from Museu Brasileiro daEscultura (MuBE) of Brasil. Robots have been sent to artists for assembly and a personal touch. They will be exhibited early in 2011.

Troyart runs through January 30th, 2011

Seeking Kali Makes a Book

2011-01-06T20:02:00.000-05:00

_The Kali Ray Flip Book _ ©Evertson_Vanden Eynde_Shulman 2011_

Altered books and artist books are the subject of an Italian exhibition in the Centrale Libreria Costaneiro Galleria Piazza Giorgione, Castelfranco Veneto, (Treviso) Italy.

This video is a Seeking Kali artist book collaboration. Ria Vanden Eynde, Susan Shulman and myself worked via Skype, Facebook and email in the preparation of the Kali Ray Flip book for exhibition at Omaggio Ray Johnson, Trevsio, Italy during April of 2011. The Italian Un Libro Sulla Morte is curated by Virginia Milici.

Flipping through the book

This is one of several projects in the works for this collaboration. Ria, Susan and myself are in the final stages of our personal portfolios of Kali related art and our Seeking Kali artist call has been a great success with 89 (and counting) great submissions to the site. We have extended the deadline until January 15th for inclusion in the book and the DVD documentation. Information concering the artist call can be found HERE.

Year in Review

2010-12-28T08:16:00.000-05:00

_ Exhibits _
Highlights of 2010

JANUARY

Visual AIDS - Postcards from the Edge - ZieherSmith, NYC (paper/mixed media)

OX and O's performance at Mobius Works in Progress (Audience participation piece with Tic Tac Toe)

FEBRUARY

Accordion Book - The Sketchbook Project - Hardcover Artist Book - Brooklyn Art Library

Crude - Multimedia, copper mesh, metal toys and hubcap - Landfill Art

Mube - Sao Paulo, Brazil Um Livro Sobre A Morte
digital collage

MARCH


Viewing area for Thorns in the Garden - MOBIUS The Alternative Experimental Flower Show

Intermedia - video loop with various props

Green Seen - Mail art exhibit at Wendell Free Library (digital collage)

APRIL

At University of Omaha, Nebraska

MAY


Visitors view the Surrealestate cards - Part of ArtRages, Boston - MOBIUS

JUNE

My image contained in the data recorder for Space Shuttle launch STS-133_
_Fluxface in Space

_BP logo ©evertson 2010 (for Greenpeace's Behind the Logo)_

©evertson_contribution to Abalcabal #1_"Introductions"

_©evertson_contribution to Abalcabal #2_"Codes"_

_©evertson_New work for Abalcabal issue #3_"Holding Out"_

AUGUST

OX and O boxs at East Hampton Public Library

The Launch of Our Seeking Kali Blog and Artist Call Ongoing collaboration with Susan Shulman and Ria Vanden Eynde

SEPTEMBER


My merchandise for the Mobius Prostitution of Art Exhibit

Red Sea Ducks for UR Toy Story at ARTpool Gallery, St. Petersburg, FL (digital collage)

Digital collage for ABAD at Belknap Mill, New Hampshire

Digital collage (still from performance) for ABAD at CW Post SAL Gallery

Mixed Media for ABAD at Fluxmuseum

OCTOBER

Analogue Narratives - Collaborative blog launch - On-going accounts of the attempt to create an ending for the unfinished René Daumal novel Mount Analogue

NOVEMBER

Kali Yuga, a Shadow Production by William Evertson for Seeking Kali premiered at the opening of the Ray Johnson/A Book About Death exhibition on Nov. 3rd, 2010. Hosted by the SAL Gallery, CW Post campus of Long Island University. Music by Larry Cohen.

DECEMBER

Mr. Wicket quilt square at the Maine Discovery Museum, Bangor, Maine

These are the highlights from my studio this past year. It was a wonderful year filled with love, support and encouragement from many people. Thank you...all who are following and reading.

Dream Rocket over Maine

2010-12-05T18:31:00.000-05:00

_Mr. Wicket quilt square_

"I wanted to let you know that your artwork is currently on display at the

Maine Discovery Museum in Bangor, Maine."

Email from Jennifer Marsh, the organizer of the Dream Rocket Project. (12/05/10) Yea!! I made this fabric piece almost a year ago to be part of an international project to cover a Saturn V Rocket with quilt squares. Jennifer has been at work for a couple years now; accumulating art from groups and individuals in the quest to assemble the 30, 467 square feet needed to cover the 38 story rocket that is on display outside the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville Alabama.

Select panels are on tour through-out the US at fourteen venues.

The Maine Discovery Museum is the largest children's museum in Maine. The Dream Rocket panels are on display through January.

Dharma Girl

2010-11-21T19:49:00.000-05:00


_Ready for Mission to Brazil_

An international exhibition of robots is coming to Brazil in January. The Troyart International Exhibition will feature works gathered from artists around the world. The robots are the work of the Brazilian Company, Troyart which makes the easy to assemble toys that were sent out by the museum this fall.

Artists have been asked to paint, modify and generally remake the robots in their own style. The exhibit is slowly being assembled online at the Troyart blog in preparation for the exhibit at the Museu Brasileiro daEscultura (MuBE) in Sao Paulo, Brazil beginning in January.

I have made two videos; both featured in the video section of the museum blog that chronicle my work on Dharma Girl; Exhibit #97. My first video is called Beginning Robotics.

Beginning Robotics - Meeting My Robot

The second video shows my work on the robot as I make her. Yes, it is a she robot and she's called Dharma Girl.

Intermediate Robotics - Building Dharma Girl

Next Step: Pack her for the long trip back to MuBE.

Many thanks to Angela Ferrara who curates and maintains the exhibition blog, Renata Azevedo of MuBE for direction and Roberto Stelzer of Troyart.

Wrapping Up Ray

2010-11-11T09:09:00.000-05:00

_Backstage at Ray Johnson/ABAD Exhibition with Seeking Kali_

1000 pieces of mail art and an extravagant evening of lecture, readings and performance! Curators Joan L. Harrison, LuAnn Palazzo and Constance Sloggatt Wolf added a wonderful chapter to the continuing global explosion of A Book About Death exhibits. Long Island University's SAL Gallery at the CW Post campus hosted an opening reception Nov. 3rd that featured all of the above.

The Seeking Kali group of projects that I helped launch with my fellow collaborators Ria Vanden Eynde of Belgium and Canadian Susan Shulman was well represented at Ray Johnson/A Book About Death. Artists currently in our on-going artist call were represented via a video presentation of their work as well as a loop on a monitor that played throughout the evenings opening activities. Many of these artists found their way to Seeking Kali as a result of their past association with ABAD exhibits.
One of my highlights was presenting the Shadow Theater that I developed around the subject of Kali.

I've put together a video that compresses some of these highlights into a six minute tour of the opening. This is just a bit of the festival atmosphere that the evening presented.

Ray Johnson/A Book About Death Opening from William Evertson on Vimeo.

There are more exhibition highlights as well as a complete archive of the work submitted on the Ray Johnson/ABAD blog.

There is more information about past and future A Book About Death opportunities on the the ABAD archive site.

Matthew Rose, creator of the A Book About Death that premiered at Emily Harvey Gallery in NYC mentioned "Several new shows are being planned; for Italy, London, Paris, Germany, Arizona and China (a real possibility) and I hope a major museum in Tokyo."

The Italy exhibit is being planned by Virginia Milici, a long time follower of this blog.

Shadow Performance at CW Post

2010-11-05T19:31:00.000-04:00

The premier of the Kali Shadow Theater was Nov.3rd at the SAL Gallery, CW Post campus of Long Island University. The opening reception of the Ray Johnson/ A Book About Death exhibition featured a variety of readings, performance and video.

Last Rehearsals

2010-10-31T08:22:00.000-04:00

_Kali puppet with Appetite Birdman_

Coming into the final stretch for the Shadow Theater. With the performance opening on Nov. 3rd. rehearsals will have to wind down. Yet, strange things keep creeping in to this shadow puppet play. The moon will unexpectedly fall from the sky, a mountain range does not want to move into place, Kali does not want to bend her arm. And so it goes, each rehearsal unveiling some mischief that I blame on the demon cut-outs that torment Kali in the final scene. They obviously want more stage time.

Many worlds of thanks to all the wonderful people who have aided me in being able to present this performance art piece. First is the creator of the music, Larry Cohen. It is his original composition that sets the entire mood of the work. Joan Harrison and fellow curators LuAnn Palazzo for allowing me the opportunity to exhibit. Susan Shulman and Ria Vanden Eynde, my fellow Kali artists who critiqued and offered suggestions. Last but not least my wife Karen, for agreeing to act the part of Kali.
We are dedicating this performance to Karen's mom, Gary, who passed away during the development of this project. We miss you Gary, our true multi-talented Kali goddess.

Editing the Seeking Kali blog submissions

All this takes place at the SAL Gallery on the CW Post campus of Long Island University on Nov. 3rd. The performances and videos are scheduled during the reception which runs from 5pm to 11.

I have also been working on a video of the submissions to the Seeking Kali artist call. The six minute video that will be shown features the 45 musicians, poets and visual artists who have contributed to date. The Seeking Kali artist call runs through the end of December for those interested in making a submission.

Behind the Scenes

2010-10-24T19:12:00.000-04:00

_Seeking Kali Shadow Theater_behind the screen_

The opening of the Ray Johnson/A Book About Death exhibit on Nov. 3rd on the Long Island University CW Post campus SAL Gallery features a night of performance and video. Seeking Kali is a project I've collaborated on with fellow artists Ria Vanden Eynde and Susan Shulman for almost a year now. We've been involved in book arts, running an online exhibition and now we present a performance piece based on our look into the myth and paradox of the Hindu goddess Kali.

Several of the silhouettes used in the performance

The theater has been my pet project for about six weeks now. The concept has been in my head and sketchbooks for almost a decade since first watching a Nang shadow theater in Thailand where I was once a visiting artist. I was very impressed with the simple tales yet elaborate cut out silhouettes the puppeteers used in their humble performances. The ones I saw were performed using only a sheet with a lantern for illumination.

original Ink drawing on acetate

In my version, I use a combination of live actors, puppets and hand painted scenery. I am also very fortunate to have the help of a musical collaborator on this project. Canadian composer Larry Cohen agreed to develop a sound environment for the action to occur in. Larry's work on the musical score adds immeasurably to the atmosphere of the performance. He certainly has put in as many hours on this as I have on the puppets and scenery paintings. An example of Larry's personal work in video and sound can be found at this link. The following video shows about a minute of segments from a recent rehearsal. You can hear Larry's musical work although not as well as it will be presented in the live version of the production.

This promises to be one of the largest exhibitions based on the original ABAD conceived and executed by Matthew Rose (and 485 friends) last fall in NYC. The CW Post exhibit includes the entire original exhibit as well as an almost equal number of new contributions. The evening of the opening is packed with performance art and video. Our Seeking Kali collaborative group will also be exhibiting an original video that contains all submissions to our artist call received to date. Please consider joining our Seeking Kali Facebook group for news and exhibition announcements.

skyscraper bird men (after Leger) ink on acetate set element

Congratulations in advance to curators Joan Harrison and LuAnn Palazzo for their hard work and determination in mounting this exhibition.

Mobius Wednesday

2010-10-06T13:35:00.000-04:00

_and this shameless promotion is on the back of the T-shirt_

As a follow up to the T-shirt merchandise I made for the Prostitution of Art show at Mobius last month, curator Jane Wang is featuring the participating artists on her PoArt blog. My work is featured in her Oct. 4th post. I had some fun posting pictures of a few of the participating artists with my Mobius T-shirt design here on my blog (here). In conversation with Jane I offered to continue to post pictures of anyone wearing the Mobius T. A win/win because I like supporting Mobius because it shows the kind of experimental art that often can't find a home in a traditional gallery setting. It's home for all that difficult art that's hard to package and often hard to even describe. It's about performance, sound and installation art that is best experienced first hand.
The following people were wearing the T-shirt during the Prostitution exhibit and photographed by Jason Turgeon's automated photobot.


Unidentified folks from the PoArt exhibit (email me with your contact info and I'll edit it in)

Grant Smith _ Mobius Artist

Tom Plsek _ Mobius Artist

The T-shirt edition was silk screened for the exhibit by my friends at the Red Barn Studios.

Into October

2010-10-03T09:02:00.000-04:00

_A work in progress_ cut out silhouette characters for Seeking Kali Shadow Theater_

These shadows are cast by the cut outs I've been working on for the Kali Shadow Theater. (the fish are ink on acetate) The Theater will be part of the Ray Johnson/A Book About Death exhibition opening on Nov.3rd.
The story line will be the the origins and manifestations of the goddess Kali.
Larry Cohen, the Canadian composer, will be providing an original score to accompany the theater. You can listen to a sampling of Larry's complex and layered music here.

This takes place at the SAL Gallery on the CW Post campus of Long Island University. The exhibition features the original Book About Death as conceived by Matthew Rose who solicited artists from around the world to contribute a "page". Actually we were asked to provide 500 copies of our page. Last fall at the Emily Harvey Gallery in NYC visitors to the exhibit were asked to bring the pages home with them to form their own books.
Since it was first exhibited the ABAD has traveled the world to various museums and galleries and has inspired several collaborations between the artists who originally exhibited.
The Seeking Kali project is one of those sister projects and is a collaboration with myself and artists Ria Vanden Eynde (Belgium) and Susan Shulman (Canada). Our online call has been running since mid August and we now have over 30 contributions of art, music and poetry (and over 3000 site visits!).

This new video is a compilation of the work from the Seeking Kali blog.

As works continue to roll in I'll be adding to this video and the final version containing submissions through 10/27 with be shown during the opening at SAL Gallery.

The great music on this video is the work of my son Ian Evertson, a recent graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston. Our poetry submissions are read by Susan Shulman.

In fact, since working up this version of the video several new works have been posted on our Seeking Kali blog. A nice one is from my fellow blogger from New Zealand, Debrina Price-Ewan. Her blog "Debrina's Altered Art Diary" is always full of energy and a fun visit.

©Debrina Price-Ewen_Kali

Three Books About Death

2010-09-27T14:51:00.000-04:00

_Evertson_submission to ABAD Belknap Mill_

reverse of card

I've been a big fan of Matthew Roses A Book About Death project. I contributed to the first project for the Emily Harvey Gallery in NYC and to each subsequent exhibit that has sought additional work. Over the course of the project I notice that I've got 27 tags for ABAD. This fall is crazy with three ABAD openings. So, this weeks post is mainly a photo essay on the various submissions to these. I've actually done double duty on some since I've collaborated on Seeking Kali submissions as well.

The piece above is for the Belknap Mill edition of A Book About Death which runs from Oct. 15th through Nov. 1st. Belknap Mill is located in Laconia, NH.

_Evertson_ submission to Fluxmuseum ABAD_

At the Fort Worth Community Art Center in Ft. Worth Texas, Cecil Touchon's Fluxmuseum is also sponsoring ABAD. This is a mixed media piece (wire mesh, acrylic, brush and postcard) The piece relates to my original submission to ABAD. I constructed several of these mesh and paint hands to photograph as a stage set for that first work. This artist call is accepting objects as well as cards.

First ABAD - Emily Harvey Gallery

CW Post's SAL Gallery at Long Island University's is host to the Ray Johnson/A Book About Death from Oct. 31st to Nov. 5th.

_Evertson for SAL Gallery _ Ray Johnson/ABAD_

Insert to card

reverse of card

The calls for these shows are ending soon so you'll need to look over the links and act quickly if you want to participate.

The Wild Side

2010-09-20T18:13:00.005-04:00


_From the photobot at Mobius_

The Prostitution of Art and Signs of Our Times really begs for a shorter exhibition title but describing a typical multi layered Mobius production in a couple of words is impossible. Jane Wang and James Ellis Coleman curate both the online blog and physical version, which opened at the Mobius gallery space in Boston this past weekend. The show featured a large screen video presentation of works that were submitted to the blogs that accompany the exhibit. The Signs of the Times blog currently has over one hundred contributions of “Signs, especially as means of language or miscommunication”. These ranged from the ironic to oblique to the unique signs that make up our visual landscape. The Prostitution of Art blog featured an artist call for works and proposals for our take on the title. From the sexy voiced photobot that I used to take the pix above (by artist Jason Turgeon) to performances by Jessica Borusky, Liz Roncka and Philippe Lejeune the exhibit had at it's heart the lengths we (artists) go to to produce the art we do.

The video shows a glimpse of some of the art and activities from opening night this past Saturday. The sound in this clip was part of the Liz Roncka/Philippe Lejeune performance. Next Sunday (9/25) will also feature a variety of performances.


Jane Wang wearing one of my limited edition T-Shirts at the opening

A compete listing of the participating artists as well as hot links are on the Mobius event site.

Plus - Jane Wangs full length documentation of Signs of Our Times.

Ria Vanden Eynde shows off her T

Susan Shulman with her T

Fast Forward into Fall

2010-09-11T07:04:00.000-04:00

_Seeking Kali Mail Art for Ray Johnson/ABAD_

Autumn is fast approaching; I can tell because I’m already in sensory overload trying to keep track of the exhibits I want to see and the work I’m contributing to exhibits.

!! Plus; with the help of collaborators Ria Vanden Eynde and Susan Shulman we have the Seeking Kali blog in place. I’ve already posted some pictures of the artist portfolio in progress that we are at work on. The blog and now the Facebook group is an addition to the personal pieces on the mythic Kali images we are working on for publication early next year.

The Seeking Kali blog in particular has become a labor of love as we showcase an international group of artists that have used Kali or the topic of paradox as an inspiration for works. Although this is up and running only a bit over three weeks already we have submissions of paintings, drawings, as well as poetry and music. A rather exciting opportunity has also presented itself for the Kali project by being included in the Ray Johnson/ A Book About Death show in November at the SAL Gallery on the CW Post campus of Long Island University.

If you visit the link be sure to check out their right sidebar for my free poster download and two more great ones by artists LuAnn Palazzo and Angela Ferrara.

The CW Post exhibit includes the complete works of the 480 artists works that make up the original Book About Death that was exhibited at the Emily Harvey Gallery one year ago. This project was conceived by artist Matthew Rose and has since been exhibited world-wide.

Examples of ABAD are included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The exhibit at CW Post will focus on the contributions of Ray Johnson to our current network of mail artists. Joan Harrison, LuAnn Palazzo and Constance Wolf curate this edition of ABAD. Johnson, the inspiration behind Matthew’s Emily Harvey exhibit, mailed unbound pages of his book about death to his New York Correspondence School students. Johnson is widely regarded as an originator of Mail Art. Please visit their link for the artist call concerning new mail art submissions. (Oct.15 deadline)

Small teaser of the Kali Shadow Theater

(work in progress for SAL Gallery and the Ray Johnson/ABAD)

The Seeking Kali presence at the SAL gallery is two fold. We will exhibit a video loop of the contributions to our Seeking kali artist call that have been received by Oct. 30th. Submission information for inclusion at this link. Submissions to the blog by the 10/30 date will allow enough time for your inclusion in the video to be shown at SAL.

We will also present a shadow puppet theater during the performances at the opening. The shadow theater is loosely based on French cabaret shadow performances and Nang puppets from Thailand. The theme of our Seeking Kali performance is Kali Yuga; an Age of Confusion. The focus is on the folly of total devotion to personal gain at the expense of the collective. Human forms, puppets and silhouettes cast the collage of shadows in this work.

We hope you will join us in the Kali project... lend an arm as we seek to include artists in our international forum for artists working not only with Kali, but myth, narrative paradox and collective actions. Your visuals, poetry, sound and more are welcome here.

Seeking Kali collaboration for the upcoming ABAD exhibit at Belknap Mill
(Myself with Susan Shulman and Ria Vanden Eynde)

For all information concerning the past and future of A Book About Death the archive link provides a great history of that sister project as well as new call and collaboration opportunities. We are at the one year anniversary of ABAD and it still continues to thrive as artists all over the world add chapters. Our Seeking Kali collaboration began as a result of introductions during ABAD.

A quickly approaching ABAD opportunity is the Laconia, N.H. exhibit at the historic Belknap Mill. The artist call indicates that work is being accepted through October 1. John Moriarty, executive director of Belknap Mill and Melissa McCarthy of The Studio curate.

Last (for this post) but certainly not least is A Book About Death exhibition opportunity this fall curated by Cecil Touchon of the Fluxmuseum at the Fort Worth Community Center. The deadline here is also Oct.1 Visit the call for works for more information on this opportunity.

Fall Exhibits

2010-09-01T11:23:00.001-04:00

It's almost fall and I've contributed work to several exhibits that are opening soon. There are more that I'm still at "work in progress" status. These are three highlights.

_Red Sea Ducks _ ©evertson _ invitation for UR Toy Story_

The UR Toy Story exhibition was conceived by and is curated by Jennifer Kosharek. As the invitation shows this features the mail art collected during the past year that this artist call has been active. Jennifer curated the Chromatophore show at ARTpool Gallery last year. This year's exhibit should prove to be even more popular with the addition of Fluxus performances. Reed Altemus, Truman Bentley Jr.,Keith Buchholz, Ginny Lloyd, Bibiana Padilla Maltos, Andrew Topel, Reid Wood and Jennifer Kosharek will perform fluxus scores. I was very pleased that Jennifer liked this piece well enough to act as the postcard invitation for the exhibit. September 11th at ARTpool Gallery, St. Petersburg, Fl

_My image contained in the data recorder for Space Shuttle launch STS-133_

Visit here for the Fluxface in Space Exhibit

From the Fluxface in Space blog

Gary A. Bibb, in collaboration with Cecil Touchon, conceived an exciting new exhibition project for the Fluxmuseum. Utilizing the Face In Space Program from NASA - they organized a "Fluxface in Space" exhibition to be launched into orbit on the last two Space Shuttles! These final missions will include a rendezvous with the International Space Station.

121 artists from 25 nations created an original postcard sized work of art, in various media, interpreting the themes of Space Exploration & the Arts, the Shuttle Program, Outer Space, Rockets, Astronauts, Astronomy etc. This will be a commemorative project around the fact that the Space Shuttle program is coming to an end after these last two flights.

My merchandise for the Mobius Prostitution of Art Exhibit

Jane Hsiaoching Wang and J. Ellis Coleman from the Mobius Artist Group in Boston are running both an online and physical exhibit with the title The Prostitution of Art. My piece is an edition of T-shirts, which are available for purchase during the exhibit. It is a nod to both the commercial artists designing ad copy and folks that leave Mobius with it's sometimes perplexing experimental art scratching their heads. At Mobius Sept. 17th - 25th

Coming next post - A Seeking Kali shadow puppet theater in the works for the Ray Johnson / ABAD exhibit at CW Post's SAL Gallery on Long Island.

Toyz at MuBE - Another piece goes on exhibit in Brazil.

Past is Prologue

2010-08-28T11:54:00.000-04:00

_New book - The Eve of Fluxus by Billie Maciunas_

Having finished reading The Eve of Fluxus by Billie Maciunas, my first reaction is that I am not quite sure how to characterize it. A romantic memoir noir? A behind the curtain tell all? A coming of age story? Billie has orchestrated all of these and her vivid recollections into a volume that continues to add to the history of what is Fluxus.
Try to describe Fluxus to anyone; this is no easy task. One might say, “It’s after Dada… it’s similar to Conceptual and Pop in some manner, yet only in the sense of several siblings that have gone their own ways.” Of course, this may invite an, “OK, whatever” reaction, on behalf of the casual art observer that belies the intense internal artist debate that surrounds Fluxus. Billie herself is no stranger to debate. One of my first interactions with her came on the heels of someone commenting that one of my pieces was fluxus. She strongly took exception. I strongly agreed; fluxus influence and deliberately creating fluxus work are two different things in my mind. Since then we have had several interesting exchanges on that topic. No less than Fluxus, George Maciunas is undeniably hard to decipher.

Larry Miller from the book’s afterword describes the mindset. “Scholars are still sorting out histories of those who chose to distance themselves from George and his particular brand of Fluxus, those who he did not want as “members,” those who sought him out for approval, and those he actively deemed to be “excommunicated” for reasons he perceived as failings.”

Billie’s book is her highly personal account of a woman arriving late to a party. A memoir of a self described non-artist wandering into a highly charged period of time shortly before the death of George Maciunas in 1978. While this book may not satisfy those searching for the history of Fluxus, it does describe what that history looked like as George’s cancer advanced and ultimately took his life.
In many ways Billie is able to paint a vivid picture of a grand exit in the midst of trauma and pain. The orchestration of their flux wedding as the Black and White piece comes into focus as an exit strategy; one “holy fool” donning the clothes of another. Her description of Georges final demise in Boston Hospital and the unfolding chaos of his estate and determination of what to do with his art and documents are fascinating.
Billie unabashedly delves into their brief yet emotional relationship as George seems to be delving into portions of his persona that were obscure to even some of his colleagues.
At times a disturbing look at two people having psychological pain as a relational basis, it stands out as testament of Billie’s resilience that she overcame the rejection of some within Georges circle to continue as a strident defender of his legacy.
Will everyone involved in Fluxus agree with Billie's observations and interpretations? What's past is prologue and this will be one more log on the already fiery debate.
With a foreword by Kristine Stiles, an introduction by Geoffrey Hendricks and afterword by Larry Miller; this is highly recommended reading.

The Eve of Fluxus is available at http://www.eveoffluxus.com/

Beginning

2010-08-23T15:44:00.000-04:00

_ Seeking Kali began as a response the eternal Facebook "What's on your mind?" query. I typed in my thought and soon Ria Vanden Eynde, with whom I've done several collaborations, responded with her thoughts. Susan Shulman immediately joined the thread and we were off. To Where? We had no idea as we tossed around comments on Time, goddess iconography, indigenous belief systems, western perceptions, travels and sources.
Busy with other projects our dance with Kali would take several months before the first manifestation appeared; a beautiful and poignant portrait piece by Ria.

Shortly after this Susan shared her first image and I followed with my mine. Looking back from where we started, which was the end of January, 2010, it had taken until June to get to that first piece. Over this period we kept our conversation going on Facebook; using it as a virtual conference room to continue our thoughts.


© Susan Shulman _ Queen Sara Gypsy Kali #1

These conversations took on a practical tone at times as we made decisions as to how we would present our pieces. Our thought was to make an artist book of our images. Despite our commitment to begin the Seeking Kali blog to share our journey as well as showcase other talented artists, the production of an artist book remains a goal for the three of us.

The format we've settled on is loose folios within a portfolio case. Each of us will be printing on a sheet sixteen inches wide by ten tall. This sheet is then folded to make an 8 x 10 folio. This format give each of us options on how to use the paper. Longer horizontal pieces can be accommodated or the additional pages created by the fold could be utilized for illuminated manuscript style writing.

The image below is Susan's use of the folio format (bear in mind that the sheet is folded in half) Mine is the folio's backside; my main image is on the reverse side of this. Also pictured is one of Ria's folios that is designed to showcase an invocation. (You can see the words in the poem tab of the blog)

Susan Shulman _ folio view

William Evertson _ folio (verso) view

Ria Vanden Eynde _folio view

Our intention is to produce four to five folios each, with versions available in both a hardcase and soft.
Now that we've launched the Seeking Kali blog and artist call in the midst of our own work, even more possibilities seem to be opening up. We hope that the work we're doing with our personal portfolio can act as a blueprint for us to produce collaborations with other artists contributing to Seeking Kali.

Stay tuned; we hope to have this first collaborative work finished in early 2011.
William Evertson (for Seeking Kali)

Seeking Kali

2010-08-18T09:23:00.001-04:00

After a brief break from blogging this summer I’m back at the keyboard with a new post and a new blog. Seeking Kali is up and running; or as Kali is wont to do, dancing.

©evertson_Kali Dance

The new Kali blog is an artist call for images of your works based on the Hindu goddess. Sometimes depicted with four or ten arms her manifestations are many. She is mother, she is goddess, she destroys time as a symbol of dissolution and destruction. Kali destroys ignorance born of our ego and restores order. While often misunderstood and misrepresented in the West her myth and archetype is potent material for artistic interpretation. Click here for details for the artist call, submission guidelines and future plans for the evolution of the project. Seeking Kali began last winter; born from comments from a Facebook thread between Ria Vanden Eynde, Susan Shulman and myself. The three of us became acquainted due to our participation in A Book About Death and its subsequent exhibits. We all had interests in myth narrative and began to share our thoughts on Kali and the many symbolic ways she manifested. The conversation thread became a collaboration to put together a portfolio of our images of Kali manifestations.

©shulman_Queen Sara Gypsy 2

This is still a work in progress but our portfolio should be ready in edition form early next year. Over the next several months I’ll share progress pictures of our work on this aspect of our Seeking Kali project. When the three of us began posting some of our works in progress, in wonderful synchronicity, several other artists began to share their images. Because of the inspired responses to achieving a western understanding of Kali we expanded our horizons to begin this artist call. Our intent is larger still. We are currently researching a way to produce an additional portfolio from interested artists. Just like the many arms of Kali our thoughts are expanding to find ways to include video, multimedia, poets, dancers and artists of all mediums.

©Vanden Eynde_Kali Ma

We would love to keep you in the loop as we move forward. There will be information here as well as on Seeking Kali. You can also email us at seekingkali@yahoo.com.

Holding Out

2010-07-13T16:14:00.000-04:00

_©evertson_New work for Abalcabal issue #3_"Holding Out"_

I was visiting friends over the past weekend and the topic of how we first came upon the brave new world of computers came up. My friend mentioned the punch cards we were issued when signing up for classes as college freshmen and how they got feed into a room sized machine which somehow spit out our first class schedules. Today, most of my creative work is done on my laptop that is many times more powerful than those used in the first Apollo missions.

Issue #3 of Abalcabal

I’m connected to the Internet with my iPhone and I create much of my work in Photoshop. The Internet itself is a great organizing tool. I send people interested in my work here to see what’s in progress, I learn about exhibition opportunities and find collaborators on projects.

A Book About Death was one such Internet project. That project lead me to my collaborators, Ria Vanden Eynde and Susan Shulman, on the Kali project mentioned in my last post.

_©evertson_contribution to Abalcabal #2_"Codes"_

Another great project I've been involved with is Abalcabal. This is a zine made by and for those who collaborate by submitting work. Abalcabal was conceived by Jennifer Kosharek as a way for artists who had participated in ABAD to share work with one another. Other artists have found us on Facebook and have started to contribute as well. I received our third issue recently and continue to be amazed by the creative spirit of the contributing artists.

#2 issue of Abalcabal

Jennifer has done an amazing job of organizing and curating this exchange opportunity as an off shoot of her mail art activity. This second link for Jennifer has information concerning a mail art show she is organizing for September on the theme of UR Toy Story.

©evertson_contribution to Abalcabal #1_"Introductions"

Abalcabal continues to be only available to the contributors; although despite our "secretive" nature we are not above on occasion sharing some of our "sweet secret things".

First issue of Abalcabal

Abalcabal = A Book About Life + cabal (a group of people joined in a secret) Shush!

New Work

2010-07-02T17:00:00.000-04:00

_Kali Dance_ ©evertson2010_

I’m not sure what others think of artistic collaborations. I find them intriguing; at least when you find the right people for a project. The piece above is one of the images I’m contributing to a book that I am working on with Susan Shulman of Canada and Ria Vanden Eynde of Belgium. The Hindu goddess Kali is our topic for an artist book containing giclée prints.

_Wheel of Time_©evertson2010

Our project began simply with an exchange on Facebook; a few innocuous statements that lead to the idea for doing “something”. The first exchange began back at the end of January and continued for several months with sporadic chats on Kali, her historical references and our intersections with the mythology.

_Queen Sara Gypsy Kali_©Susan Shulman2010_

Ultimately these discussions have coalesced around an artist book where we each contribute several images. At this stage we have settled upon loose folio sheets either in a drop spine or portfolio-style book case.

_Untitled_©Susan Shulman2010_

We have no set deadlines but I thought that while we are in a preliminary but energetic state it is time to start showing off some of the imagery. Neither do we have any idea how many images we ultimately will produce. Presently we are working in a folio format in which a single sheet of archival quality paper is folded in half giving each artist several potential layouts for each of the individual folios.

_Kali Ma_©Ria Vanden Eynde2010_

On several occasions during our talks of collaboration we came full circle in our fascination with Kali's many manifestations; she creates and destroys, she is mother and she restores worlds out of balance.

GREAT MAIL ART:

In the mail this week were several great pieces. First to arrive was an original collage by Matthew Rose. For those unfamiliar with the particulars of mail art, Matthew's is a great example of trust and allowing for chance. The work consists of original collage on light board that is not wrapped in any way but simply stamped and left to the vicissitudes of the postal service.

It came through perfectly! Now when I want art to make it through without damage...well, it never goes as planned. Matthew Rose is an American artist that is based in Paris. His largest collage project, "A Book About Death" continues to gain momentum as new artists step forward worldwide to curate and exhibit this project. Currently ABAD is in Omaha at the RGN Gallery and a fall exhibit is planned for the C.W. Post campus on Long Island. Matthew was recently interviewed on KHND radio. He describes life in Paris, the story behind A Book About Death and life as a collage.

_detail of Matthew Rose designed artist stamp " Reubens Rounding Third"_
Note that it was cancelled by the postal service - their stamp of approval

I also received a full sheet of artist stamps and Encyclopedia Fluxanica #s 1-6 from Portland, Maine artist Reed Altemus. Reed works across several media but always with an eye to Fluxus inspiration. Well known for his copier art and fluxus performance work, these two works are a wonderful gift. Some information on Reed's copier works are contained in the essay found here.

Speaking of collaboration... I don't think I've ever mentioned Abalcabal. Next time perhaps because I work with some great artists on that project also and we specialize in sweet secret things.

Photo Finish

2010-06-25T15:50:00.000-04:00

_My image contained in the data recorder for Space Shuttle launch STS-133_
_Fluxface in Space_

This has been a busy productive week in the studio and also a week of receiving some amazing art in the mail from several friends and collaborators. The image above is part of the artist call from the Fluxmuseum for an exhibit of postcard sized images that ride into space on one of two final space shuttle missions this fall. NASA's site allows the upload of pictures that are to be included in the data recorders aboard flights STS-134 and 134. After your upload, print a version and mail to the Fluxmuseum in Fort Worth, TX to be part of the land based exhibit.
I'm not sure how anyone else works but many times I wake up in the morning with my dream mind still engaged. So, that day begins with a thought like, "I should really do something with monkeys". I don't know why; but I write those thoughts down and sometimes these random things find a way into the art. So when I heard about this artist call, I thought about the first animal test flights I remembered from my childhood. So, serendipity strikes and with monkeys on my mind already, I searched the files from NASA archives and found Albert. Actually there were quite a few Alberts, a rhesus monkey, as well as chimps that were the first living mammals in space. The ongoing blog of the contributions is called Fluxface in Space. I'm number 3!!

IN THE MAIL

This first grouping is from Kathleen McHugh of Seattle. This is a set of the cards (to date) of her contributions to the various A Book About Death projects. First exhibited last fall in NYC at the Emily Harvey Gallery, the ABAD project has expanded internationally. While some curators have chosen to include only the original unbound book version containing some 480 images; other curators have extended the call and requested new works. This group contains Kathleen's contribution to the ongoing projects.

Kathleen McHugh for Emily Harvey, NYC

Kathleen McHugh for RNG Gallery, Omaha, NE

Kathleen McHugh for MuBE, Brazil

Kathleen McHugh for MoMA, Wales

The next piece is from Christine Tarantino of Massachusetts. Christine maintains the Fluxus -USA/ New New Art blog where various international artists submit a variety of current and historical Fluxus material. Fluxus, in its broadest definition consists of a blending of media, styles and disciplines that began in the 60's. I certainly have been influenced by many Fluxus artists and continue to contribute to shows containing fluxus work. Grazie Christine!

Christine Tarantino

Several pieces showed up from Belgium this week from Ria Vanden Eynd e with whom I love to work on collaborations. This next piece is hers alone and is intended for the RNG Gallery of Omaha where another ABAD exhibit is in the process of being assembled. There is still time to participate in this latest version of ABAD being curated by Louise Millmann and Robert Gilmer.

Ria Vanden Eynde: an ABAD image for RNG Gallery of Omaha, NE

The following is an ongoing work in progress collaboration between Ria and myself. This particular one began with several ink drawings I sent to Belgium for Ria to add to or modify without restriction. This is the second and it has just been returned for me to do the same. Either add and resend, call it done or some other undetermined action. We both enjoy the possibility of accident, change and impermanence. The piece I sent was an ink sketch of an Iris on paper about 12" x 21". In this case Ria has attached a pressed flower (a forget me not) and a Japanese death poem written on the reverse.
Ria has also launched a new blog of special interest to women artists (and the men that love them). In Ria's words: "I’m interested to see how other women artists create as they are ‘touched' by life. I’m calling women artists for artworks about their body as it changes through different circumstances, the joyful and the sad. To name a few: aging, child birth, illness, accidents, psychological suffering, life changing events, ... Interested?" Please visit The Body - Nothing Else.

Work in progress by Ria Vanden Eynde and William Evertson

detail of poem

detail of flower

Logo Redesign

2010-06-18T15:38:00.000-04:00

_BP logo ©evertson 2010 (for Greenpeace's Behind the Logo_

About the same time I was working on my submission for the A Book About Death exhibit in Omaha an opportunity came along to expand on that piece. Greenpeace is sponsoring a contest for a logo redesign for British Petroleum. While it doesn't solve any problems, it did feel good to vent a bit of rage over the lack of safety concerns that lead to the deaths of the rig workers and continues to spew crude oil and methane. While we still need to vent at our own Mineral Management Services that simply rubber stamped out dated and fraudulent contingency plans, BP is a good starting place. The Greenpeace site has information for adding your own design as well as a link to see all the great new and improved logos. (entries through June 28th)

In the Mail!! It's been a great week for things showing up in the mail from fellow artists.

©Branka Djordjević

This piece arrived from Luxembourg from my friend Branka Djordević. The piece is a four inch square painting on metal that is bonded to a canvas and stretcher, making it actually a rather substantial feeling piece. The paint and surface has a glossy look that doesn't really come through in the photo giving it a very shimmering feel. These small paintings are part of Branka's series "A Painting a Day Keeps the Apple Away"

LuAnn Palazzo

LuAnn Palazzo sent two nice works this week. The one above is a collage made of thumbnail pictures of art by several of our mutual friends. Very nice piece and luckily she provided a key to the artists included here on the back.

LuAnn's key to identifying the images in the collage

A great idea and if you have been following this blog for awhile you may recognize some of the included artists from their participation in either Mail Art or some of the ongoing ABAD exhibits. LuAnn has a wonderful site where you can explore her design and photography. LuAnn also included her postcard that was part of the ABAD Wales exhibit that recently closed.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

The Next ABAD

2010-06-11T14:15:00.000-04:00

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. Or it seems that way concerning the A Book About Death. A new edition is in the works for the RNG Gallery of Omaha Nebraska and it opens July 31^st. I love this community that has formed from the original project back at Emily Harvey Gallery. Many friends continue to submit new work as well as new faces (art) showing up to comment on the subject of death. This particular exhibit is following the format of accepting new work to be exhibited along side the original. A visit to the ABAD Omaha site will fill in details if you wish to join in. The submission deadline is July 20^th. My piece (#40) for this exhibit is based on a bit of free association concerning the tragedy in the Gulf. Titled “Two BP Imports”; it collages Lord Baden Powell’s Boy Scout manual with the petroleum giant BP’s utter lack of preparedness. Although, to be fair there is enough blame for many in this deadly scenario still playing out. The original ABAD was conceived and curated by Matthew Rose. The RNG Gallery exhibit is curated by Louise Millmann and Robert Gilmer.

Last February I submitted a mixed media sculpture to the Landfill Arts project called “Crude”. At the time I was concerned about our overdependence, the greed and the spills; but little did I imagine what was soon in store for our shores. You should be able to find this piece around page 11 of their gallery.

ELP - "Welcome back my friends to a show that never ends" Karn Evil 9 1st. Impression. Part 2 excerpt - live from '73 and my friends if I were to concentrate on corporate bad actors for subject matter I truly would have a show that never ended.

Pacts with the Devil

2010-06-04T10:50:00.000-04:00

_Border detail from Haiti's Seed Money_

Today's post is art made for a specific date: namely today, June 4th, 2010, World Environment Day, the date when Haitian farmers threatened to burn the Monsanto Corporations 475 ton seed donation. This box is probably the most political of all the Ox and O boxes I’ve made so far.

_Open box showing contents_

It didn’t start out that way, but since the boxes are inspired by a thematic exploration on the topic of choice, I’m traveling paths that have political implications on occasion. In thinking of themes for boxes in this present series I first constructed Power Play, then Play Money and then Seed Money came to mind. Since I’ve also been bouncing around with opposites, reactions and consequences as a way to set up these tic tac toe boxes the word association play comes first then the ideas and imagery.

_Cover to the small "instruction" book included in contents of box_

So ‘seed money’ sent me backtracking an article I had seen in passing, concerning the Haitian earthquake and the continuing efforts at relief and rebuilding. From the Huffington Post I reread the brief outline of Monsanto's efforts to donate corn and vegetable seed that some farmers in Haiti view as the beginning of the end. Monsanto Corporation has caused controversy for decades (producer of Agent Orange during the Viet Nam war) and in many minds an ethically challenged entity with global reach. Although Haiti’s Ministry has rejected Monsanto’s GMO (genetically modified organism) seed varieties, the hybrids offered are treated with either the fungicide Maxim XO or thiram. The comment thread on that link reveals heated argument for both camps, ie Monsanto is acting altruistically vs Monsanto is capitalizing on disaster.

_Pigment print collage on underside of lid_

On the other side of this equation are local producers such as Chavannes Jean-Baptiste of the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP). "We need to establish seed banks and have silos where we can store our Creole seeds. Local, organic seeds are the basis of food sovereignty. It's urgent that Haitians buy local seeds. ... What's the danger we face today? It's that food aid from USAID and others is getting dumped in the country."

_Prose from 'instruction' book_

The other idea I added to the box concerns the claims of the televangelist Pat Robertson that the Haitians suffer as a result of making a pact with the devil in 1791. Supposedly, this legend has origins dating from the slave uprising against French colonialist rule.

_Anonymous 17th century woodcut illustrating a pact with the devil_

This box contains the same variety of elements (and a few specific to this box) from the others boxes in my Ox and O series; the book, the blank grids, pigment pads, seed corn, collages of pigment prints as well as the hand carved stamps.

_Detail of the corn carving on the bottom of one of the hands_

The images I created for the interior compartment refer to Haiti's past history of slavery. The bottom image is from a ship diagram showing the loading of a vessel to maximize the transport of slaves. The underside of the hinged compartment is a composite digital collage with a historical illustration of a muzzle restraint superimposed over a photo of myself burdened by a necklace of coins around the neck. This collage element is titled 'Accept our Gifts' and refers to the payments Haiti was forced to make to France in return for it's independence. (backed by high interest loans provided by the US among other nations)
One thing I've become painfully aware of in researching imagery, political and philosophical thought in the information age is the overwhelming amount of propaganda masquerading as fact on every side of controversial issues. Choices and consequences.

So, while I didn't start out to make an in your face political statement, it appears that is what I've accomplished. A special consideration for one day June 4th, 2004.

_Closed box_

Art and Conscience

2010-05-29T22:45:00.002-04:00

_Magical thinking. I finished a new box titled PlayMoney with the game and imagery concerning financial meltdown. The overall focus of the boxes remains choice and identity but they sometimes also function as a repository of my frustrations. As if locking these concerns into the box could change minds.

In PlayMoney, the play of children contrasts with the play of those in the financial world where the stakes are much higher. I was thinking how the non objective and abstract nature of play is curiously mirrored by deregulations of the financial sector that allowed for the creation of very abstract and complex instruments of transactions to be developed. Play could also be thought of as a transaction between the individuals. Of course now, we are to hold the belief that corporations can be considered as having the rights of individuals. Child-play with the corporate individual leaves many of us with the feeling of having faced humiliation at the hands of the playground bully.

Our corporate entity of course has a far differing set of values than we as individuals may grow up with. Developing a sense of fair play and sharing is not the same as maximizing profitability.
Nothing really new here as this type of legal precedence dates back to a case involving the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in 1886. In January of 2010, the court rejected corporate spending limits on political campaigns.

The rule of play gets tougher. Perhaps in this game box the money piece always should go first as it speaks the loudest.

I don't think of myself as an artist who’s content is primarily political, yet the muse of choice and perception I’ve followed for many years always seems to lead down this path.

Those that have been following this blog for a while recognize the handstamp to the right of the photo. The carved bottoms of the hands are used to mark the playing grids in this artist "game".

In keeping with the art and politics theme of todays post I've recently become aware of a woman whose art while very poetic can be tinged with an acute sense of social justice at it's core.

Marsha Parrilla is an artist that I met in Boston during the Alternative Experimental Flower Show in March. Her work involves performance art as well as choreography and dance. Marsha’s piece Harina from the Mobius Flower Show was inspired by word play of Flower and Flour. I was back in Boston several weeks ago for ArtRages and had an opportunity to video a portion of her performance piece Lucha Libre.

Lucha Libre - Marsha Parrilla performs with Angela Ferrara

In this case Marsha’s work tackles the recent Arizona immigration enforcement bill. I thought it would dovetail into this post because I think this piece does justice to a complex and divisive political issue. The following sign was posted outside of Marsha’s room at ArtRages.

“My solo is an improvised response in protest of Arizona's Senate Bill 1070. It worries me that they have decided that they have the right to determine how an "illegal" immigrant looks like, and that they have the legal power to act accordingly. It also concerns me that the color of our skin is once again legally on the table. Are we a backwards country?

I am juxtaposing the idea of -Lucha Libre- as a symbol of the fight between good and evil. Lucha Libre is a national Mexican sport where both wrestlers come masqueraded to fight. I was particularly inspired by El Santo, the most popular luchador in Mexico, who wears a silver mask. The mask is a symbol of heroism, persistence, and uniqueness. They are considered super heroes, who fight for social justice. When a luchador looses the fight, his mask is removed at the ring for all viewers to see his humanity. The winner remains masked, a symbol of being undefeated, remaining a hero.

Arizona is trying to unmask our immigrants. Hopefully our immigrants (and the whole country) will fight hard, and our immigrants and our real sense of freedom will remain undefeated.

THIS IS AN INTERACTIVE SOLO. I INVITE YOU TO JOIN ME AT THE "RING" TO SHARE A DANCE. WE NEED NOT FIGHT, WE SHALL SHARE OUR SPACE TOGETHER. PLEASE REMOVE YOUR SHOES PRIOR TO ENTERING OUR DANCE SPACE.

Performance Artist: Marsha Parrilla

Conceived by: Marsha Parrilla with the assistance of Alejandro Rodriguez

SB 1070

ARTICLE 8. ENFORCEMENT OF IMMIGRATION LAWS

11-1051. Cooperation and assistance in enforcement of immigration laws; indemnification

B. FOR ANY LAWFUL CONTACT MADE BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL OR AGENCY OF THIS STATE OR A COUNTY, CITY, TOWN OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS STATE WHERE REASONABLE SUSPICION EXISTS THAT THE PERSON IS AN ALIEN WHO IS UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES, A REASONABLE ATTEMPT SHALL BE MADE, WHEN PRACTICABLE, TO DETERMINE THE IMMIGRATION STATUS OF THE PERSON. THE PERSON'S IMMIGRATION STATUS SHALL BE VERIFIED WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PURSUANT TO 8 UNITED STATES CODE SECTION 1373(c).

Parrilla's use of the luchidor mask is at odds with her petite stature lending her a fierceness that belies the gentle probing dance with which she engages her "opponents". The room that acts as her ring is glass sided so viewers can see the contests with viewers she invites into mock combat. While her statement appears to concern itself with the unmaking of immigrants, I take away from her dance a feeling that confronting an illogical fear leads to renewal and understanding.

PowerPlay

2010-05-21T15:45:00.012-04:00

_latest multimedia game box from my Ox and O series_

This piece is a continuation of a series of small game boxes based loosely on tic tac toe. In 2003, I started making carvings on the bottoms of a series of cast plaster hands. These served at the time as chops to sign and date works on paper. In 2009, I began to expand this idea with additional carvings based on symbols of a personal significance. Given their small size of about one inch in diameter the carvings remain rudimentary signifiers.

Now, in 2010, I have over sixty symbols that I regularly make carvings of. The symbols range; a hand holding a brush, animals, children at play, disasters, money, mythic figures such as Sisyphus and Kali, and there are many more. About a year ago I began to use these in "game" boxes.

The tic tac toe format seemed a likely venue to place symbols at odds with each other. The boxes are not so much about the game play as the juxtaposition of symbolic content, although they can and are played as games. I call these Ox and O boxes in honor of the Zen ox-herding illustrations.

The name of this game is PowerPlay and concerns itself with childhood and our growth from pure play to playing more serious games where power is the prize. Each box I create contains original art which then becomes part of the three dimensional collage that these games actually are.

IN THE MAIL

I received a couple of nice pieces this past week in the mail. The first from Ria Vanden Eynde. Ria and I collaborate from time to time. The picture below is from earlier this year. I sent Ria an ink sketch on silk and she turned it into a shroud to veil her portrait underneath.

About a month ago I sent several more ink drawings over to Belgium for her to add her insight. Bear in mind neither of us has intentions of steering the direction of the work so trying to elaborate on another artist's work is a bit like the trust game of closing your eyes and falling backward and hoping someone will catch you. So now the piece is back on my side of the Atlantic to add to or simply sign. Humm?? Still looking. Ria has started another blog that is fantastic. She has been inviting women to submit work concerning body consciousness. One of her recent submissions was a written piece by Yoko Ono.

Stage two of a collaboration with Belgian artist Ria Vanden Eynde _ The Gateless Gate_

Mail Art by Christine Tarantino

Another welcome addition to my mail art collection is this piece by Christine Tarantino. This jpeg shows the back on the right side. The New, New NYC stamp is from my handstamp series and references Christine's blog work organizing and providing an online gallery (New New Art) of Fluxus inspired works.

Thank you!!

A Perfect Example

2010-05-13T05:36:00.018-04:00

_Milan Kohout beats the drum during ArtRages_

Artist run exhibits tend to be created rather than curated. The Mobius artist group of Boston created a very special event on May 8th. Taking over 10,000 sq. feet of space in a building near Logan airport and filling it with performance, installation, fashion and music provided an invitation to overindulge in push the envelope style work. The show's title "ArtRages Surrealestate Art Party" is a mouthful and was equally difficult to consume in one sitting. The exhibit took over an entire sprawling floor in a building that looks perfect for light industry or R&D and for one night that industry was art. In addition to my photos of the event the Boston Phoenix photographer, Derek Kouyoumjian, has some great shots of the evening. The show or event went from 8pm to 1 am and it was difficult to see how any less time spent there would allow you to see it all.

Barry Friedland

Cathy Nolan Vincevic (not pictured in this performance -Mari Novotny-Jones)

Marsha Parrilla dances with Angela Ferrera

Masks and Jewelry: Kest Schwartzman

- On Ondi Gottesman:

Ghost: Hand Wrought Copper (Mask)

Eclipse: Hand Wrought Copper and Rooster Feathers (Cuffs)... See More

- On Maria Pinto:

Cassowary- Hand Wrought Copper (Mask)

Ready to Fly- Brass and Pheasant Feathers (Bracelets)

Birdcage for the Neck- Brass (Neckpiece)

Stylist: Amanda Maciel Antunes - D.ama.

Naomi Bennett

Emily Beattie and Liz Roncka

SLSAPS!!! Second Line Social Aid Pleasure Society Brass Band!

Jane Wang calling the end of the fashion show

Visitors view the Surrealestate cards

_I was recently looking over a very smart article written by Ted Mooney, former senior editor of Art in America. Basically it forms a timeline of development of the art up through our latest recession. His conclusion was that the artists resisting the compulsive commodification of a few blue chip artists may finally be at a tipping point as a result of the latest recession. Artists of the performance, conceptual, those influenced by Fluxus are engaged as never before in bringing networked exhibitions to the fore. As Mooney pointed out, in the past artists have allowed the support systems unprecedented power. What artists will do if they decide to take on some of that function was clearly on display in Boston this past weekend.

Where am I

2010-05-07T14:25:00.013-04:00

_New artist boxes underway on worktable this week_

I've been posting about my take on various artists and what I been seeing lately, but I do have a few works out in the world right now so this is a brief rundown on where my art is. Last post mentioned the ongoing A Book About Death exhibits currently in Wales, Belgium and Sarajevo.

Tomorrow (Sat. May 8th) I have a piece in Surrealestate to support my favorite Boston art venue, Mobius. This exhibit is part of a larger Artrages party and fundraiser to benefit the continuing work of that premier arts collective. Artists were asked to provide an image or message to the rear of the works that would be revealed at the opening. While I won't post the message it does describe my interaction with Moses who is in the foreground of the art's collage elements.

As seen in the top photo I have been busy this year making artist game boxes to house the various handcarved stamps I've made over the past several months. The works in progress above are destined for collections although the examples below are in two current exhibits.

Red box on left in Fluxhibition #4 _ Brown box in Game Play

International Fluxhbition #4 is themed for "amusements, diversions, games, tricks and puzzles". Curated by Cecil Touchon in Fort Worth, TX.

Cover of box at Game Play

The brown box is on exhibit at the Criss Library at the University of Omaha. Game Play is a group exhibition "born from and inspired by videogames, sports, board games and other toy games" On view until May 21st. Both boxes contain the handstamps that make up a tic tac toe like game in which the players use the stamps and pad to play. Boxes are themed according to the icons carved on the base of the enclosed hands. Various images collaged on the interior of each box complete the work.

Mr. Wicket quilt panel 2' x 4' for DreamRocket

The Dream Rocket quilt panels are being prepared to tour various venues throughout the country this summer. My piece is vinyl coated fabric on a linen canvas backing.

Green Seen is currently on exhibit in Wendall, Ma until May 21st. The image I chose for this green themed exhibition is one that I have played with for several years now; the diver and lotus.

As I look over these pieces I suddenly am thinking that I don't have a signature look. I'll have to satisfy myself by knowing there is an underlying theme of how we view the world.

Finally, this week while I intended to finish those boxes at the top and move on, I got distracted while sorting through the photos I took recently in NYC. I decided to make up some photo collages to send off to friends who participated in some of the performances. Here are the first three:

Jennifer Zoellner

Reed Altemus

Keith Buchholz

All three performances from April 17th at Printed Matter, NYC.

MoMA, Wales

2010-05-02T07:38:00.016-04:00

_ A new work for the latest A Book About Death exhibit_

Are we living or dying? We are born. We die. The two sides of this coin are fully explored in the exhibit A Book About Death. The most recent incarnation of this exhibit opened this week at MoMA, Wales. The exhibit continues to make its way around the world with installations this spring in Brazil, San Diego, Belgium and Sarajevo. The original show, which was conceived by artist Matthew Rose arouse organically from social networks linking many artists to a common theme. A big theme, a universal theme that cut across all national, political and cultural boundaries: the theme of death is one we all share.
Artists began contributing to the original exhibit at the Emily Harvey Gallery in NYC by submitting an edition of 500 postcard sized artworks. During the run of the exhibit last fall, viewers were encouraged to collect as many cards as they wished. Some responded by collecting every artist’s contribution, while some collected the cards that spoke to them personally, thereby compiling their own unbound book.

On the heels of recession; where the direction of art, its promotion and how money and power define the aesthetic of our times is again under scrutiny from the actual producers of art, the artist curated group show is on the rise. Whether this signifies any lasting change is open to debate as most artist organized events tend to run out of steam with their lack of a cohesive thread.

The A Book About Death has managed to maintain its momentum precisely because of the gravitas and universality of the subject matter. Whether artists are creating tributes, commenting on senseless loss or valiant struggle, the subject is universal.

Back of my MoMA Wales card (insert on right)

Sonja Benskin Mesher, the curator for the MoMA Wales exhibit came to the project as a way of sharing her reaction to the recent loss of her husband Philip.

Her drawings and paintings of the chair that Philip sat in became a powerful symbol for her loss that she contributed to the original NYC exhibit. Sonja received a box containing the entire exhibit from our mutual friend Mara Thompson who had recently mounted the exhibit at Otis College of Art and Design in California. The box has quietly rested on Philip's chair in Wales waiting to be opened during the installation in Machynlleth, Wales. As Sonja removed each card from the box, she entered the name of each artist in the Book of the Living. Her account of finally opening the box literally brought tears to my eyes.

Sonja Benskin Mesher's Book of the Living (photo courtesy of the artist)

The MoMA Wales exhibit runs through May 8th.

Concurrently the show is also in Belgium at Exit11 and ASA Gallery in Sarajevo

Kentridge at MoMA

2010-04-24T18:31:00.007-04:00

_Felix Crying _ finished state of a drawing from the film Stereoscope_

I started to take an interest in William Kentridge a few years ago after seeing a few things on YouTube. Last year on the PBS series, art: 21, Kentridge continued to amaze me. The MoMA exhibition of his work only confirmed my respect for this mans art. (the link is a terrific resource for understanding the depth of this exhibition)

It has been a long time since I spent so long immersed in any artists work; yet last Friday I took in the Kentridge exhibit for five hours and then decided to return on Saturday for another three. I had to go back because I didn’t know when or if I would ever see this all assembled again. His command of two of my personal forms of expression, namely drawing and film are genius. Perhaps in many ways I see in Kentridge the artist I would like to imagine myself as, not in the sense of envy at his recognition but in his success at bringing to life the intense dialectic of the artist in the studio struggling to bring forward the universal part of himself.

Perhaps I also see the energetic use of drawing as a metaphor for the caged animal Kentridge seems to be as he stalks his imagery in his studio. The drawings we view at the exhibit are not finished so much as exhausted; they are simply stepping-stones to the next drawing. Kenbridge’s method of drawing, erasing and reworking all the while stepping back and filming the progress leaves an extremely energetic surface to the paper before it is abandoned for the next blank page. In his methodology we are witness to a struggle to narrate a story that doesn’t seem quite thought though as it develops; the accidents of drawing seem to lead the artists invention of narrative as much record any intent. The exhibit itself is divided into five themes and in each this drawing/ film making is at the heart: except when it’s not…. Contradictory, yes because the artist also employs theatrical actions and the arrangement of torn paper in much the same way he manipulates the drawing.

View of Magic Flute theater showing prop tracks

One room is devoted to a puppet theater type performance of the Magic Flute. This is a compact wonder of the marriage of high tech computerized mechanics and Kentridges decidedly low tech approach to animation.

Two of the rooms on exhibition are projections to all four walls of the space that immerse the viewer in the rooms theme. Complimentary or conflicting realities are presented to our minds eye to tease apart and this takes time. I found myself stalking the spaces much the way Kentridge does in several of the videos; at time glancing over a shoulder to catch what imagery is going on behind my back. Changing, movement, and contemplation: A rare and poignant look into the soul of an artist.

At MoMA in NYC through May 17^th and I hope I have time for another visit!

Lost by Mara Thompson

I received a beautiful original work from Mara Thompson this week. Mara has been working on some great new works lately so take a moment to visit her link to see her inventive collage work.

Now - what is going on in my studio will have to wait for another time. I've spent the past week mostly archiving work and that was a long overdue task without starting new projects. Of course now that I've seen the Kentridge I've got to pick up my pace of drawing or most probably with me, my ink drawing.

Still to come are some thoughts on Marina Abramovic and the not to be missed woodcuts by 19th century Japanese master Kuniyoshi at the Japan Society. Through June 13th.

Greetings from Dadaland

2010-04-21T05:28:00.022-04:00

Art Detox in front of Printed Matter, NYC - 4/16

_Whew! Last weeks trip to NYC was packed with too much as usual. Attending the opening for the Greetings from Dadaland exhibition turned out to be the tip of a very large iceberg. Far too much for a single post so I'll save thoughts on Abramovic and Kentridge at the MoMA as well as the woodcuts of Kuniyoshi at Japan Society for this weekend.

_But Fluxus first, starting with the John Held and Picasso Gaglione curated exhibition of Fluxus, mail art and rubber stamps at the Stendhal Gallery. (545 W. 20th, NYC - April 15 - May 29th) Held and Gaglione, collectively known as the Fake Picabia Brothers, present an exhibit taken from their collections of poster art, box sets of rubber stamps, collage and video. The variety of the exhibit showcases the interests of Held and Gaglione in the curve of art history encompassing Dada, Russian Futurism, Constructivism, Nouveau Realism, Conceptualism and Mail Art.

_The boxed rubber stamp sets follow the example of George Manciunas and Flux-Kits. Inexpensive multiple edition stamp sets showcasing various artists as well as commemorating exhibitions are displayed in vitrines in the center of the gallery.

_The show is very nicely organized with a variety of works of great historical interest; well worth a visit and on view through May 29th. The opening itself was well attended with many of the artists involved in various Fluxus and mail art projects in attendance. Some nice shots of guests at the opening are posted on New York Social Diary. The evening rounded out with Dada Machine Fluxus performances.

video still from Dada Machine Fluxus performances

Keith Buchholtz in foreground

_On Friday Dada Machine Fluxus continued with performances at Printed Matter.

Reed Altemus, Cecil Touchon and Jennifer Zoellner, Melissa McCarthy, Art Detox, Mark Bloch and Christine Tarantino.

Spring Cleaning

2010-04-10T05:48:00.013-04:00

_Detail from "Tip of Iceberg " studio clutter_

_There is a time every so often where too many projects have been piling up without the benefit of documenting. So I’m devoting the week to spring cleaning my studio spaces before things are any more out of control. I do admit to enjoying a certain amount of chaos and having several projects open and in progress at any one time. Things that actually are finished seem to be the ones that I’ve imposed deadlines on. So while I do have open projects and some new ideas to begin I don’t have any serious need for deadlines right now; so time to step back and survey.

Myself with Reid Wood, Mark Bloch and Valery Oisteanu (photo by Gail Wood)

Taken at Marks show at Emily Harvey Gallery

_But part of that process is procrastinating and slipping out to look at the work of other artists. My wife and I took the train into NYC last week to catch a couple of shows about to close.

_A friend from ABAD (A Book About Death), Mark Bloch was in the final day of a show at Emily Harvey Gallery. Marks exhibition “Secrets of the Ancient 20^th Century Gamers” showcased his art of Storàge as well as some collage and sticker art. What immediately draws the eye when entering the gallery is a variety of trunks, suitcases all chained and roped closed.

_A tongue in cheek high security that references the art form Mark describes in his wall manifesto posted nearby. “To err on the side of invisibility is never a mistake. If an artist has any doubts at all about the worthiness of what has been created, they should simply place the work in a secure area, free from intellectually curious intruders where no one can see it.”

Mark described each case as being a unique museum.

Each trunk or container is actually labeled as such; the above detail from the Museum of Marriage. Of course, contents are unknown at present per the art of Storáge.

_ Another of Mark's pieces I've pictured here is his Sticker of Stickers. Mark has collected sticker art during his travels throughout the city and has used them as collage elements in this large (guessing 8') mother of all stickers. In talking to Mark there was some conflicting ideas on how best to exhibit this piece. Should it be stuck directly to the wall, perhaps should it be stuck to a nude? In the end its simple placement on the wall seems very satisfactory without any additional commentary on the nature of sticker art.

_In addition Mark's zines are present in a news stand type display. If you follow the link to the artist site you will find that the zines have much commentary on the nature of art and influences that make up much of Mark's art.

_Another bonus... Karen and I happened to be at the show the same day that Reid Wood and his wife Gail were visiting the city from Ohio. It was a pleasure to meet Reid and exchange some small pieces.

_I admit what drew me to the Tichý exhibit at the International Center for Photography was his intriguing homemade cameras. I left feeling the same way; intrigued. The photography leaves me a bit conflicted in light of the incredible back story of Miroslav Tichý himself. While trained at Prague's' Academy of Fine Arts as a painter, his photography seems more of a personal reaction to government repression and hints concerning mental illness. I say seems, as while the deliberate mishandling of his artistic production method is intentional, it does bear an obsessive hoarding quality as evidenced in the display cases containing the cameras and decomposing piles of negatives and prints. That being said, any mention of mental illness is in the context of the crackdowns following the Prague Spring. Working in an environment of repression and surveillance and in fact rounded up for a detention on a routine basis, he seems to have the persona of the mad artist let loose in the village; misunderstood and little tolerated. The work itself is centered on his daily strolls through his hometown in Kyjov, Czechoslovakia.

_The subjects of his photography, mostly women, are for the most part unaware of his presence. Intentionally at odds with photographers who obsessively detail the settings, lens, filters used in the work; in his words "Photography is painting with light! The blurs, the spots, those are errors! But the errors are part of it, they give it poetry and turn it into painting. And for that you need as bad a camera as possible! If you want to be famous, you have to do whatever you're doing worse than anyone else in the whole world."

_ His work becomes the mirror world of his environment; a voyeuristic surveillance of his town for unknown purpose.

Flower Show Wrap

2010-04-04T07:30:00.008-04:00

Artist Aithne Sheng-Ying Pao holding a gallery visitor to the telescope to view my video Thorns in the Garden

_In putting a wrap on what was a successful conclusion to the Alternative Experimental Flower Show, there are three artists who I have not mentioned. Heidi Kayser is working on what is essentially a durational piece titled Calculating Icarus. This work is based on the Japanese paper crane and the idea that folding 1000 origami cranes brings luck. Heidi’s ongoing work (as she finds venues) consists of clipping the wings of the cranes in order to capture the cranes’ luck. The cranes are displayed as elements of simple elegant arrangements that capture a tea ceremony feel; although as I learned, Heidi has no direct studies in this art form. None the less, the austere look to these structures with the ‘flawed’ cranes clinging to the branches and other elements leave the viewer with a feeling of ritual. The clipped wings themselves are also displayed mounted on pins as if part of a scientific collection.

Calculating Icarus cranes by Heidi Kayser

_Stephen Curator shared a video of a work in progress Cr{t}cH. This work consists of hundreds of extreme close-ups of vaginas rapidly cycling. The large scale of the projected images and the rapid changes becomes a hypnotic meditation of pelvic architecture. Stephen’s explains that the piece is part of a larger work in progress, The Empire S.N.A.F.U Restoration Project.(facebook fan page link)

E. Stephen Curator's Cr{t}cH

_Sarah Rushford was represented by a piece called Terrarium. Sarah has provided a visual metaphor with corn planted in milk bottle terrariums. Overcrowded and laying on their sides the newly sprouted shoots spill out. While easily overlooked because of its small scale it was a quiet work; very effective in its simplicity.

Terrarium by Sarah Rushford

_Overall, while the show was of short duration (in keeping with the flower show weekend theme) it was a creative alternative take on a spring tradition in a city where tradition runs deep. Mobius has been in the forefront of artistic alternatives for Boston for well over 30 years and that is a tradition in itself. Many thanks to Cathy Nolan Vincevic for not only curating the show but adding her unique exhibit long performance as resident gardener.

Cathy Nolan Vincevic