Pics of Monster Drawing Rally

Pics From Monster Drawing Rally

As always -- the Monster Drawing Rally was a complete zoo -- and quite a fun event. Lots of great drawings at a total steal -- only $50/each. Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to be collecting more art at this point (with my Forever Summer installation in progress almost all of my collection is in storage). I was only able to complete one drawing -- a wood, suede, fur, and tack piece that I think I'll call Homage to the Wood Grain. It's a tad similiar to the site specific piece I did at Richard Heller Gallery in LA several years ago, Bellyband.

Someone checking out my drawing






















Homage to Wood Grain
















Scott MacLeod





















Scott MacLeod
















Crowd

Drawings

Lissa Ivy and Eliza

Monster Drawing Rally

You'll find me here between 7:00 - 8:00














Southern Exposure's 6th Annual Monster Drawing Rally
Friday, February 24, 2006, 6-11pm
Suggested donation: $5 & up

Southern Exposure announces the 6th Annual Monster Drawing Rally, a live drawing and fundraising event featuring over 100 artists. Providing the basic necessities of the drawing practice--pencils, charcoal, pens, markers, ink, and paper--Southern Exposure creates the context while the artists create the content of the drawings. The evening will consist of four one-hour shifts with approximately 25 artists drawing simultaneously each hour. As the drawings are completed they will be hung on the walls and made available for purchase for $50 each. The Monster Drawing Rally promises to be an action-packed spectacle you won't want to miss!

Participating artists include: Lisa Allen, Lorene Anderson, Michael Arcega, Chase Bowman, Jon Brumit, Michael Campbell, Michelle Carlson, Sydney Cohen, Veronica De Jesus, Lucas Degiulio, Gabriel Delgado, Elizabeth DiGiovanni, Tina Dillman, John Dwyer, Ala Ebtekar, Nome Edonna, Jeremy Ehling, Amanda Eicher, Cathy Ellis, Tia Factor, Christiana Ferroggiaro, Matthew Flegle, Rhea Fontaine, Dustin Fosnot, Amy Franceschini, Erik Friedman, Cecilia Galiena, Lori Gordon, Chloë Greene, Debra Greene, Michael Hall, David Hamill, Catherine Harris, Jonn Herschend, Amy Hicks, John Hooker, Winnie Hung, Suzanne Husky, Packard Jennings, Monica Johnson, Kika Jonsson, Robert Larkin, Denise Laws, Carrie Leeb, Jenny Lovold, Tongsue Ly, Amber MacLean, Scott MacLeod, Hector Magaña, Kara Maria, Sheila Masson, Corrine Matesich, Mike McConnell, Ian McDonald, Dennis McNulty, Rebecca Miller, Mark Lee Morris, Moira Murdock, Ha den Nicholl, Cynthia Ona Innis, Jennie Ottinger, Kottie Paloma, Zane Peach, Mark Pearsall, Mitzi Pederson, Patrick Piazza, Ferris Plock, Emily Prince, Alejandra Rasvetaieff, Lisa Ricci, Ricardo Richey, Thorina Rose, Pico Sanchez, Jovi Schnell, Amanda Schoppel, Andrew Schoultz, Emily Sevier, Emanuela Sintamarian, Casey Smith, Jennie Smith, Chris Sollars, Nellie King Solomon, Heather Sparks, Gerone Spruill, Jennifer Starkweather, Rebecca Szeto, Charlene Tan, Weston Teruya, Kelly Tunstall, Adrian Van Allen, Jamie Vasta, Paul Wackers, Jerad Walker, Leigh Wells, Kyle Williams, Megan Wilson, Jenifer Wofford, Christine Wong Yap, and Paul Zografakis.(Partial list)

Found on Myspace

Found On MySpace.com

My friend Gordon found this on MySpace.

Timbuk2

TIMBUK2


This is a bag that I did for Timbuk2 as part of a project they did to have artists custom design bags. You can check out all of the bags at the Timbuk2 site.

Smorgasbord, Tea Party, and Video Fest

Smorgasbord, Tea Party, and Chilly D Video Fest!

A very fun, action-packed weekend!

Friday Night:
I met up with my friend Glen to catch up after several months of both having very busy schedules. We met up at my exhibition Spring at Ampersand International Arts and then headed over to Glen's new pad -- a beautiful apartment in Bernal Heights -- to have a glass of wine and chat. From there we stopped in at the Wild Side West bar to have a beer and shoot the shit more. It was a good taste of home (Montana). Next was a 180 degree turn to a private reception & smorgas bord at the Swedish American Hall (near the Castro) for Bridging The Baltic, a reception for the Art Exhibit: Four Nordic Artists Reform Popular Culture's Imagery of Masculine and Feminine with Photography, Video and Film in BENT: Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Scandinavian Art, at the Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco State University.

The event was very swanky with men in tuxedos and women in evening gowns (Glen and I were definately underdressed for the soiree). The food and drink was great -- lots of fish, breads, and cheeses, plenty of champagne and an ice sculpture pouring vodka. The program was even better -- with performances by the SFSU Chamber Singers singing choral works from Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Estonia; and several works by Edvard Grieg with violinsit Jassen Todorov, and pianist William Corbett-Jones. We chatted with Mark Johnson, who hosted the event, and was dressed in a pant suit that looked like a combination of Swedish superhero and race car driver.

Saturday:
Return of the Lagaso-Goldbergs Tea Party

Sadly, this was just a visit -- but great to see my close friends Trisha, David, and their adorable son Primo, who moved from the Bay Area to Hawaii a year ago. The Tea Party was hosted by friends Sue and Barb and was a really nice get-together and opportunity to spend time with many of my favorite peeps.












Several of the folks who were there will be featured in an exhibition at The Contemporary Museum in Honolulu in May: Trisha Lagaso, Jennifer Wofford, Eliza Barrios, and Mike Arcega! It should be an amazing show and I'm hoping to make it out for the opening.

Sunday:

Tenth Annual Chilly D Video Festival

This is my favorite annual video fest -- I've been to five of them now. It's produced by my friend Dwayne Marsh (amazing photographer -- as well as a social and economic justice policy analyst!). It's definately progressed over the years. The first year I went -- in 1998 -- I wasn't sure what to expect. Dwayne was living in my neighborhood at the time (Nob Hill SF) and just a block away in a big old brick apartment building. The promotion of it (even then) made it sound like a pretty big event (I figured he must have a large space with big screen tv) -- three full days of scheduled flicks and all. I remember getting there a bit late for my screening and walking into a tiny studio apartment that had a bunk bed in it (oh yeah, and there was the bathroom, that also served as a kitchen) and the place was crammed with folks -- probably 15 -- all looking at a very small screen tv. Well he's since expanded (in every regard) -- he now lives in a big house in Oakland with a HUGE flat screen tv -- and this year I even received my ticket in the mail. It's always a very fun event -- potluck, great films, and every year I meet new and interesting people.

Pimp

I'm now reading Iceberg Slim's Pimp: The Story of My Life. Very similar to Shot In The Heart, yet very different.

This is from Popsubculture.com's The Biography Project:

Iceberg Slim, also known as Robert Beck, was born as Robert Lee Maupin in Chicago, Illinois on August 4th, 1918. He spent much of his childhood in Milwaukee and Rockford, Illinois before returning to Chicago as a teenager.

His father having abandoned them, Slim's mother supported the family by working as a domestic and operating a beauty shop. He credits his mother for having prepared him for the pimp lifestyle by pampering him during his childhood.

Iceberg attended Tuskegee Institute briefly in the mid 1930's, at the same time Ralph Ellison was there, however they did not know one another.

At 18, Robert began his initiation into "the life", adopting his nom de guerre, "Iceberg Slim" and remained a pimp until age 42, predominantly in the Chicago area. He was incarcerated several times in conjunction with his crimes, including a stretch in Leavenworth and spent a 10 month prison sentence in solitary confinement at Cook County House of Corrections in 1960. It was this last stretch that finally motivated Iceberg to "square up", and take to writing about his life experiences rather than pursuing a life of crime.

Slim moved to California in the 1960's to pursue the a normal life, and changed his name to Robert Beck, using the last name of the man his mother was married to at the time.

He published his first autobiographical novel, Pimp: The Story of My Life in 1969 published by Holloway House. He found his book being shelved next to other black authors of the angry 60's like Eldridge Cleaver's Soul On Ice and Malcolm X's The Autobiography of Malcolm X. As the climate shifted to the more militant black political movements in the 1970's, Slim had an opportunity to meet Huey Newton and other members of the Black Panther Party, whom he admired greatly. He considered his success as a pimp as a blow against white oppression. The Black Panthers, however, had little mutual regard for Slim, considered his former profession as little more than the exploitation of his people for personal gain.

Slim's books were met with great success and immediately garnered widespread attention. The film rights to Pimp were purchased by Universal Pictures following the success of The Godfather, however the project was considered "too hot" and put on hold indefinitely. However, in 1973 Trick Baby was made into a film directed by Larry Yust. The cast included Kiel Martin as "White Folks"; Mel Stewart as "Blue Howard"; and Ted Lange as "Melvin the Pimp". [NEWSFLASH: I just found out that this was recently released on video - check your local (cool) independently owned video store, or buy it. ].

There have been rumors that a film based on Pimp is now in production, with both Ice-T and Ice Cube vying for the leading role. By the way, both "Ices" cite Iceberg Slim as an early inspiration, and paid homage to him by adopting his name. UPDATE: It looks like Ice Cube has gotten the part for the upcoming film, check out this article from MTV.com, though since this is dated May 2000, the production may have been postponed. Here's another (undated) blurb from Rolling Stone.

Iceberg Slim passed away April 28, 1992 at age 73

Symmetry

My friend Sarita standing in front of our friend Sandeep Mukherjee's latest installation at the MAK Center for Art and Architecture at the Schindler House (Sandeep is one of my favorite artists).

Info on the show:
Symmetry
January 26, 2006 - May 07, 2006
835 North King Road
West Hollywood, CA
323-651-1510

In the world of space and time, symmetry derives its meaning from a center, a repetition of forms on mirroring sides of an axis. The exhibition Symmetry features works by Los Angeles-based contemporary artists that use or relate to this concept. Curated by Nizan Shaked and Kimberli Meyer, Symmetry presents work by nine artists: Edgar Arcenaux, Patrick Hill, Brandon Lattu, Sandeep Mukherjee, Amy Sarkisian, Eddo Stern and Jessica Hutchins, Stephanie Taylor and Sam Watters.

Symmetry describes a formal property; it also has been continuously associated with an ideological position. In ancient Greece, symmetry was seen as key to creating balance, order and beauty. Modernism, posited as the antithesis to the persistence of classicism, deemed symmetry a redundant form that facilitated idle viewing. Attached to neither of these positions, the exhibition artworks underscore and often directly respond to the unique symmetry of the Schindler House. Like the house, the works perform a spin on the idea of balance, the use of symmetry—or its careful undoing—appearing sometimes on the surface, sometimes hidden in the structure, but always at the core of a work’s meaning.

The Schindler House’s symmetry can only be perceived by experiencing its space, reading its floor plan, or from a bird’s eye view, for it is not apparent in a facade. Conceptualized on the horizontal rather than the vertical plane, the pin-wheel floor plan revolves around a central axis, creating a flipped symmetry that enabled two families to share the same home with maximum privacy. Schindler’s use of interlocking spaces and the resulting multi-planar vistas and transparencies further extends the sensation of spaciousness in this utopian experiment in Modern living. The properties of the house, the history of its residents, and the exhibition it will host, all reveal subtle formal symmetries that spin narratives of similarity and difference.

Hello Corporate Communism!

Hello Corporate Communisim! .....

Wal-Mart to Open About 1,500 New Stores
By MARCUS KABEL, AP

(Feb. 8) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to open more than 1,500 stores in the United States in the coming years, on top of nearly 3,200 it already operates, the world's largest retailer said Tuesday.

John Menzer, the company's vice chairman and head of its domestic Wal-Mart stores division, said Wal-Mart was on schedule to meet an announced target of between 335 and 370 new U.S. store openings this year after 341 last year.

That number includes Wal-Mart discount stores, Supercenters that also have a full grocery section, smaller Neighborhood Markets and Sam's Club membership warehouses. Supercenters are the largest single group with 1,980 locations in the U.S. and the focus of future growth plans.
Menzer did not specify a timeline for the new stores. He also did not refer to zoning and permit fights that have erupted in some places where Wal-Mart wants to expand, including big markets such as California where the company has fewer locations than in its traditional bases in the South and Midwest.

"We are really focused on opening new stores right now. We see so many opportunities to open new stores that that's where our capital is going first," Menzer said during a Web cast from a financial conference hosted by Citigroup in Miami.

Wal-Mart opened 69 new stores and Sam's Clubs in January, a company record for one month, it announced last week.

Menzer said 1,800 of its existing Supercenters would be remodeled over the next 18 months to make them more inviting, adding touches such as faux wood floors, wider aisles and digital television display walls.

The remodeling program, which Menzer said would not require a large capital outlay, is part of a broader strategy to interest consumers who are already in the store for basics to buy more fashions, electronics, home furnishings and fancier foods.

Wal-Mart began working on the remodeling program last year, and formally unveiled it in October at its annual meeting with analysts.

As part of its growth plans, Wal-Mart also is experimenting with new formats for Supercenters to fit the big box structures into tighter urban neighborhoods. New styles will include multilevel stores and underground or above-store parking rather than a huge lot out front.

Naughty Poems for Teenagers

This was sent to me by my young friend Aanchal who lives in New Delhi, India. It's a chain letter. Ohhhh ..... those wacky kids. The best part is at the end where it promises the recipient/sender what they'll get if they pass it on; after reading through it, it seems the best choice would be NOT to send it on to anyone else:

*the best NaUgHtY PoEmS fr teenagers!*

POEM # 1
I like your style
I like your class

but most of all i like your ass

POEM # 2
Im a cool girl, in a cool town

it takes a real mother fucker to put me down

POEM # 3
Kissing is a habit
Fucking is a game
Guys get all the pleasure
Girls get all the pain

The guy says i love you
You believe its true
But when your tummy starts to swell,
He says 'to hell with you'
10 minutes of pleasure

9 months in pain
3 days in hospital
A baby without a name
The baby is a bastard
The mother is a whore
This never wouldn't have happened
If the rubber wouldn't have torn

POEM # 4
Guys are like roses,
Watch out for the pricks.

POEM # 5
Smoke a smoke
Not a butt
Fuck a virgin

Not a slut.

POEM # 6
Sex is bad
Sex is a sin
Sins are forgiven

So stick it in.

POEM # 7
Holy mother, full of grace

Bless my boyfriend's gorgeous face
Bless his hair that tends to curl

Keep him safe from all the girls
Bless his arms that are so strong
Keep his hands where they belong
Bless his dick, the one i sucked
Bless the bed, in which we fucked
And if my Mom happened to walk in

Bless the shit I'd be in.

POEM # 8
Sex is when a guys communication
enters a girls information
to increase the population
for a younger generation
do you get the information...

or do you need a demonstration

POEM # 9
Men are like public toilets

They are either engaged or full of shit!

POEM # 10
If guys had they periods
They would compare the size of their tampons!

POEM # 11
Mental anxiety,
Mental breakdowns,
Menstrual cramps,
Menopause...

Did you ever notice how all our problems begin with MEN!

POEM # 12
Roses are red,
Violets are corny,
When I think of you

Ohh baby I get horny,
Eat me,
Beat me,
Bite me,
Blow me,
Suck me,
Fuck me,
Very slowly,

if you kiss me,
dont be sassy,

Use your tongue and make it nasty!!!!

Poem #13
Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue...

I'm In Love But Not With You...
When We Broke Up You Thought I Cried
But All It Was...

Was Another Guy,
You Told Your Friends That I Was A Trick,
I Told Mine That You Had A Weak Dick...

I Said I Loved You
And You Thought It Was True,
But Guess What Baby?!

You Got Played Too!!

Poem #14
Guys are like parking spots...
the good ones are always taken...
and the ones that are available,

are either handicapped or too far away!! *Darny*

Send this to...
0 - You will lose the person that your with.
1-5 -someone u like will ask u out
6-10 - u and ur crush will get closer
11 or more - u and your crush will be together 4 a long time

Buh BYeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

The Farm Without Name

Last night I went to my friend Maw Shein Win's chapbook party for her new collection of poems -- her work is edgy, funny, and quite bittersweet. Here's a sample:

(drawing by Mark Dutcher)

the farm without name (originally published in Watchword)

the home of claude cahun and suzanne malherbe

she longs for her stepsister's hips
she counts the crumbs in her lover's house
she clutches at feathers with no regrets
she remains several women
she is a masked gymnast
she wipes off the sweat while no one looks
she blinks at the penis on the curb
she is the heart of a woodpecker
she is the farm without name

she longs for her stepsister's hips with half-closed eye and shuttered lens

he picks the syllables up off the floor
he is a braided girl
he has never heard of the isle of jersey
he is a constructor and explorer of objects
he lives alone on the eighth floor
he is afraid to leave
he has green eyes like fresh weeds
he is squandered and condemned
he is a farm without name

he picks the syllables up off the floor and tosses them into the air again

it slides to the ground
it fills empty jars
it rests in the shade
it grasps at linen bolts
it is paris in the winter
it is constant as a cat
it is the mania of the exception
it is the public gaze
it is a farm without name

it slides to the ground with its palms face up
--------------------------------------------
More info on Maw:
Maw Shein Win lives in Berkeley, California. Her work has been published in journals including Instant City, Watchword, Hyphen, and the LA Weekly. She is a co-founder and editor of Comet, a literary, arts and culture magazine based in the Bay Area. Maw was recently awarded a Summer 2006 residency at the Headlands Center for the Arts.

Maw can be contacted at: cometmagazine@yahoo.com

Nike Airmax Night

Arie Dyanto's Nike Airmax Night

Images from my Indonesian friend Arie Dyanto (he lives in Yogyakarta, Indonesia). This is his latest project. He's currently doing a residency in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Arie was part of the Sama-sama/Together mural project.

Photoboof

Photoboof!

Last week my DSL crashed and I had to call my tech guru Alec (not my Web guru -- that's David Lawrence). It turned out that someone had linked onto my wireless network and gone into my router and changed my password!

I've been working with Alec for the past 4 years and he's been great! The last time I had a mini-crisis in December, I called him and he was just about to board a plane for New York, but still took the time to walk me through the steps to fix the problem. He comes over about twice a year to clean my computer out and share new software with me; this usually takes a couple of hours so we'll catch up on what we're each doing and projects we're working on.

Alec used to have a meter maid vehicle that he'd zip around in to different clients since it made it easier to park in neighborhoods like mine. So last week when he was here, I learned that he was no longer using the vehicle as transportation because he'd turned it into a photo booth for Burning Man (I'm finally going to go this year!). This turned out to be a HUGE success and has now officially become the Photoboof. It's great! And he's now being contacted by lots of folks who want him to bring the Photoboof to a wide range of events (these include the Love Parade, Nimby Circus, bar mitzvahs, and high school birthday parties). Check it out!!
http://wrybread.com/photobooth/

I always love coming across people who don't consider themselves artists, yet they blow away many who do (myself included). I foresee the next big wave of Outsider Art being in the realm of "Relational Aesthetics" or "Social Sculpture" -- it's definitely a market opportunity for the commercial/institutional arena.

Delta Dawn

I've spent the last week and a half recovering from the 2 weeks it took to install my exhibition Spring at Ampersand International Arts, catching up on life and work (including a trip down to LA to visit my sweetie Corey), and listening to a lot of country music. I'm a huge fan of Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Charlie Rich (his song "Life's Little Ups and Downs," written by his wife Margaret Ann, is one of my all time favorites), Emmylou Harris, and Gillian Welch. I'm also a huge sucker
for Gordon Lightfoot and Tanya Tucker ("Delta Dawn" is also one of my all time fav's).