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<![CDATA[dimensions variable - home]]>Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:57:10 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Shaun Kardinal, Connotations @ Joe Bar, Seattle]]>Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:42:26 -0800http://www.dimensionsvariable.org/1/post/2012/04/shaun-kardinal-connotations-joe-bar-seattle.html
Last July, Shaun Kardinal created an interactive piece for Seattle's web-based gallery project Violet Strays. It blew my mind. At first glance, it's an image. Then it occurs to you to hover your mouse over it, or perhaps this happens accidentally or intuitively. Things start to spin around, and layer up as you move the arrow. Once you click the image, it reloads to start something new and your dance begins again. The joy of the piece is in your discovery of an invitation to play.

This user-dependent browser-based piece is built from a photo feed which accumulated over the course of his one week "installation". The overlays are geometric and graphic but if you know Kardinal's work, you know these marks are essentially a virtual embroidery stitch on a virtual card. The piece is titled "Heptaparaparshinokh" which upon some research was revealed to be "The Law of Seven (or Octave)" - fascinatingly having to do with seven points of swerving from a previous direction of a force's movement. Heptaparaparshinokh is an elegant marriage of concept and aesthetic.

Kardinal's sewing came at a time when there wasn't much sewing going on in Seattle, but it was beginning to creep into view. Unlike large scale projects such as my own where the stitch is large and spans a 13 foot wall; this vein of work brings art down to an intimate level where the work is cherished and hand-held. Artists love postcards. They trade them, they add to them, they become elaborate exquisite corpse projects. But Shaun keeps it quiet, simple, and contained. They are created from his own world but he is offering them to you without pretense or expectation. They are what you want them to be.

I appreciate that Kardinal's stitching has become more integrated with the collaged image, that there is a visual storyline of colour, shape, and form that springs from the composition underneath. The fault of many artists who embroider is that the stitch has little or nothing to do with its source, serving more as an arbitrary treatement of line and colour for the sake of design. That isn't necessarily bad, but it's the particular virtue of Connotations that the hand of the artist aligns itself with the material so well. This integration is what makes it so strong and in my opinion, though it manifests in Connotations it truly culminates in his web project Heptaparaparshinokh. This is an experiment that I look forward to seeing continue both in tactile paper pieces and hopefully, some day on a screen once again.

GO SEE CONNOTATIONS AT JOE BAR
Capitol Hill Art Walk, 12 April 2012810 East Roy Street @ Harvard
12 April - 8 May

screenshot from Kardinal's Heptaparaparshinokh, 2011

Shaun Kardinal Connotation No. 4, 2012

]]><![CDATA[You Can't Say There Aren't Art Writers In Seattle, You Just Have to Read Them]]>Fri, 06 Apr 2012 11:32:38 -0800http://www.dimensionsvariable.org/1/post/2012/04/you-cant-say-there-arent-art-writers-in-seattle-you-just-have-to-read-them.htmlSo it comes up now and again, or all the time, or once in a while, or constantly; that there is no art writing in Seattle. Sometimes, on a bad day, I agree and yell a lot about it. Then I feel guilty or jealous or anxious because I used to be and/or still want to be one of them. I lament the loss of we artist writers who used to write and cross post and hyperlink more. Those were the days, I say. And then I secretly plot to write about a show or an artist or something every day. It will be a good day, I say.

Last week someone linked a post that gallerist Paul Pauper wrote and it felt like someone slapped me out of a fog. Wait a minute. Artists are still writing in Seattle. What the hell? Why aren't we acknowledging this? Is there some kind of unspoken need to have writers be uh, "vetted"? How could a writer be any more vetted than either a] writing, b] being an artist/curator/gallerist themselves, and/or c] all of the above?

Let's snap this bitch into focus. I'm going to say it clearly so you can catch the whole thing:

THERE IS ART WRITING IN SEATTLE AND IT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.

And I am going to show you where it is. Whether or not you find the writing to be frequent or critical enough is an entirely different conversation but we'll get into that another time. Let's just start with what's out there and you can tell me what you think when we're done:

Jen Graves, The Stranger - our most prolific art writer, covering as much of the city as she can with the time she has as our singular paid, bona-fide art critic in Seattle. Her writing covers everything from small features suggesting shows and events to full length articles and reviews. Notice I emphasize art critic - something we actually must admit we don't have in Seattle, particularly since Regina Hackett has stopped writing. How/if/when we get more writers on the more critical end of analysis/criticism/questions is an old, old old old Seattle question. We're still waiting for people to step up to the plate on this one. For now, Jen is it.

Joey Veltkamp, Best Of - our second most prolific art writer on top of being an artist himself, Joey gets out there more than anyone I know. Joey does a great job of interviewing artists, spotlighting what's going on around town, and presenting a positive voice about what he enjoys most in Seattle.

Translinguistic Other, Emily Pothast - like many of us artists who write, Emily was writing infrequently in 2011 but has since cranked it up to present her much adored literary voice to the community. The virtue of Pothast's writing is its thoughtful intellectualism which is not only beautifully worded but well resourced, putting art into context for the reader via thorough cross reference to other material and artwork.

City Arts (multiple writers) - City Arts is the local magazine dedicated to the full spectrum of Seattle arts, from dance and theater to music and visual art. I have seen Rachel Shimp, Bond Huberman, and Amanda Manitach writing most recently for them. Dan Paulus brings in great art and illustration as their Art Director. They also have a great blog which covers the arts between issues.

Seattle Magazine - Brangien Davis primarily covers art for Seattle Mag but they also have a great online arts section with some great features about museums, artists, collectors, and events.

Hankblog - I confess I hadn't read Hankblog in a long time and had a total "oh duh" moment when it came up in my Facebook feed. It's a great resource for art events around town.

The Monarch Review - Monarch Review is the best cross section of literary writing in Seattle right now. Not only do they connect the visual art community with the literary community; the writing on visual arts is thorough and well presented. It isn't often enough that we see visual arts essays but the quality far outweighs my need for quantity here.

New American Paintings, Erin Lagner - Lagner has had a presence in Seattle for some time, and you might know her better from her blog Peripheral Vision. While I am always hoping she will write more, I am equally if not more ecstatic to see her writing in a more national venue with the New American Paintings Blog. Seattle art getting a national audience? That's kind of a big deal.

Hi Fructose Magazine, Kirsten Anderson - Speaking of a national audience; Kirsten Anderson, gallery owner of Roq La Rue in Belltown has been writing for Hi Fructose Magazine in print and online for some time and is in fact editor at large for the magazine. Lest you think it's only Pop Surrealism, I'd like to point out that non-Pop Surrealist artists such as Joe Park, Chris Crites, Kimberly Trowbrige, Mandy Greer, and Michael Alm have graced the walls of Roq La Rue - and that's not even counting the show I curated this month.

Molo's Sketchbook, Ryan Molenkamp - Molenkamp, like Emily and Joey, has been writing about art for years on this blog. He presents a thoughtful artist's view and aesthetic in his writing, and also discusses his own work in progress. He has become affectionately known as "Molorazzi" around town because of his uncanny ability to capture the artists in his flash at various events. You definitely suffer no loss of fun shots and photo bombs on Molenkamp's blog!

Drifts & Scatters, Gala Bent - Gala's writing is as mesmerising and poetic as her work. I never tire of her prose. Not only is her blog a tender, thoughtful documentation of her work but it is a recorder of the things which inspire her which in turn, inspire us too.

Art History Blogger, Carol Hendricks - Hendricks runs the adult programs at Gage Academy of Art on Capitol Hill; but in addition to that she's also an art historian. She's spent a lengthy amount of time in Europe, mostly Italy, and her studies predominantly focus on Italian Renaissance and Baroque. While this blog is not about the contemporary art scene in Seattle, it is an excellent resource of art historical information which not a lot of people are focusing on.

Getting to Know You Better, Susanna Bluhm - Susanna's voice isn't as frequent as it used to be, but what I've always appreciated about her writing is not only her eloquence but her introspection as a painter. Once one of many artist bloggers from the 2007-2010 era who were writing more frequently, she is writing less; but no less beautifully.

ARTDish - one of Seattle's longest running art resources, sometimes you still see features contributed by Jim Demetre, Robert Ayers, Adriana Grant, Amanda Manitach, Gary Faigan, Marcie Sillman, and of course Andrew Bartels who also is on staff at Monarch Review.

Degenerate Art Stream, Degenerate Art Ensemble with guests - this blog is curated by a broad group of artists, writers, and performers (many of them DEA performers, more specifically) and constantly delivers amazing content via its guest features. Currently, C. Davida Ingraham is guest writer for the blog, her first post covering Gala Porras-Kim's show in Los Angeles, Whistling and Language Transfiguration.

]]><![CDATA[Ten Things I Think You Should Know About]]>Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:46:05 -0800http://www.dimensionsvariable.org/1/post/2012/04/ten-things-i-think-you-should-know-about.htmlThanks to friends on Facebook and C-Monster (your source for a multitude of cool things), and also thanks to the final week of my own project; I have a list of ten things you should check out on your coffee/lunch/sanity break at work today:

Screenshots of Despair - perhaps a symptom of dystopian online existence. It's my favourite new thing.
20 Artists with clicky as fuck websites - the website as art, something Shaun Kardinal did with Violet Strays once

(speaking of which)

Violet Strays - this week is Amanda Manitach, featuring two videos and a piece of literature.
A robot made of legos and phone that solves a Rubix cube in less than 6 seconds - welcome to your robot future. Are you nervous?
A Common Name - beautiful geode street art that breaks my heart with its beauty.
Draw It With Your Eyes Closed - a Paper Monument project whereupon they asked dozens of artists and teachers, some well known and some not, to speak about the best art assignments they’ve given or received or even heard of. MUST. BUY. THIS.

(this leads of course to)

n + 1 - Paper Monuments sister publication with lots of delicious back issues. You can download the PDF if it's sold out.
Damien Hirst and the Great Art Market Heist - this will either validate everything you've ever not worried about, or utterly depress you.
Xerox your own Xerox book - here is an excerpt from Art Fag City: " Seth Siegelaub, the do-it-all curator, writer, and art dealer, just released half a dozen of his essays and art projects from the late 60’s and 70’s for free download. It’s all part of Primary Information’s new Seth Siegelaub Online Archive and it will be expanding in the months to come. Siegelaub’s interest in conceptual artists and how they can make a living from ephemeral and reproducible materials remains incredibly fresh, particularly in light of the Occupy Movement."

(last but not least)

RED CURRENT (sweet fruit) currently up at Roq La Rue Gallery in Belltown through Saturday 7 April. This show is a contemporary survey of 37 Seattle artists that I've curated for the space, demonstrating a broad scope of practise and perspective from painting and conceptual work to video and sculpture. Jen Graves writes a bit here, and one of the artists in the show, Emily Pothast really nails it here. Thanks to all of you who've made it so far, it's been one wildly awesome ride.

the last, lonely list left out of over 200 after the opening for RED CURRENT (sweet fruit)

]]><![CDATA[Devouring Time at Western Bridge; or, Creating a Story of Impermanence and Landscape]]>Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:28:44 -0800http://www.dimensionsvariable.org/1/post/2012/03/devouring-time-at-western-bridge-or-creating-a-story-of-impermanence-and-landscape.htmlAs I entered the vast open space of Western Bridge, my companion who was already inside grinned at me mischievously. I asked what was so funny. She said, “this piece is everything I both love and hate about contemporary art” … I asked the dreaded question (dreaded because we were presumeably standing in front of it in the middle of a very large room but I didn’t want to admit which “piece” it was) : “what piece?”

My friend smiled and pointed at the floor. I looked down at the puddle of water near our feet, crestfallen. Yes. Yes of course this is the one. This is the piece that will cause all the anguish because unlike Dan Webb’s meticulously documented process of carving a block of wood from perfection into dust (which you’ll find carefully collected in a Plexiglas box at the end of the aforementioned documentation); this piece is going to challenge the very idea of what an artistic process is, and whether or not it needs to be tangible. Is process in the mind of the artist, or is it forced upon us as we toil to wrap our own minds around that thing that we both want and don’t want to understand? Is our own attempt to wrap ourselves around the work to justify its existence as art in its own way a kind of art?

These questions only lead to more questions:

Why is there a puddle of water on the floor? Why am I so obsessed with its presence and [in] authenticity? Why can’t I just make a joke and move on, rather than stand here and try to figure it out so that I can explain it to my friends? Why does this work want me to want it to be art?

So what do you think I did, standing there with my friend; I reached down and touched the puddle with my fingertip, and brought my fingertip to my lips to see whether or not it was actually sea water. It was. I moved on.

The rest of the work in the gallery is what I’d expect to see - minimal, clean, large, and contemporary. I love this kind of work. It’s what I want to see more of in Seattle, whether or not I connect with it. These are artists whose work resides in lofty galleries in Chelsea, NYC. These are artists who’ve been in the Whitney Biennial. But if I’m honest, sometimes I don’t want to see it. I don’t know if living in New York wore me out or if it’s just that it feels out of place here. Or maybe it’s just so achingly polished and contemporary. It doesn’t matter. Seattlites need to see it. Don’t let my internal conflict get to you - I make very minimal work in my own studio and probably need to be refreshed with something more baroque. I need things to be … dirtier … messier.

So it says something to me that the most interesting things in Western Bridge are actually the architectural elements of the building. I’m in love with the space. I’m fascinated by the height recordings on a wooden pillar towards the back; not only because it’s a marker of physical facts, but because it’s a marker of who’s been there - many of them rather well known art folks in the Pacific Northwest. It’s a quiet understated slice of history: “these people were here at this time”. Also there is a large hook on a chain in the front, as well as a complex array of knobs and handles brightly painted red. It’s not supposed to be as interesting as the art but it has such a strong presence in the room that it can’t not have a strong presence in the room. Also when you’re south of SODO, everything is an industrial element. Knobs, tracks, wheels, cranks, gears, scaffolding, cranes, and other earmarks of industry are as important a part of the [interior and exterior] landscape as the mountains, sea, and sky.

The most fitting and fulfilling installation I’ve ever seen in the space is by my former Pratt professor Mary Temple. When she was here, she created a fictional reflection of light that lulled you into that lazy late afternoon moment where sunlight cascades across your wall from a window across the street. It’s so beautifully Northwest in a way - we Seattlites are not without a keen sense of our environmental surroundings. Our light is specific to our open sky, the way it bounces off the mountains, Elliott Bay/Puget Sound, and buildings. Or off of plate glass windows on that warehouse across the railroad tracks.

Which brings me back to water - something we’re inescapably surrounded by. I couldn’t make a joke about Emilie Halpern’s puddle because nothing about any of the work in this exhibit is a joke. It’s all very serious. The puddle of water is four litres, the amount of liquid which can be contained by the human lungs. You have to read the handout to know that. You have to read another art review to know that the puddle evaporates over the course of the day to leave a salt stain on the floor. That’s the problem. But once you know that you can’t help but form your own story of why that puddle is there in the first place.

Therein lies the beauty. It’s a story that you make. Not the artist, who doesn’t explain its presence. You imagine it.

And so it’s art that I can’t joke about because it's valid the moment I realise I’m the author. It’s the same with any kind of conceptual work - you are doing the work. I make you do this with my own work. Having an artifact at the end of the day doesn’t mean the art is somehow more valid.

And it isn’t fair for me to say all the work in the show is totally minimalist, although there are still echoes.

Dan Webb’s endless row of documented woodwork is a tangible reality that I can almost feel with my hands, as though I were carving his skull myself. I love that the climax is a container of the dust at the end of the row of photographs. While I enjoy the evidence, what I’m not so sure about is the need for it to exist as proof. Perhaps I’d prefer to put that together myself?

Mungo Thomson hangs two mirrors facing one another with the Time’s trademark frame and title text painted on them, making you the person of the year. Since there are two, the reflections are infinitely recursive.

Matt Sheridan Smith’s beautifully drawn portraits which have been covered in the weird silver stuff that covers lottery tickets, which has been partially scratched to reveal the drawings underneath. (did he use a quarter to remove it?) At first I thought they looked like portraits from various currency. As it so happens, they’re friends of the artist. The style of work combined with the scratch ticket and all of it pointing to money is awesome.

Probably my favourite piece, Alex Schweder La’a small subtle installation literally lives and grows above the stairwell; which if you don’t pay attention you’ll disregard as mold - something else we sort of take for granted in our damp region. Its presence slowly eats away at the structure of the building, changing it over time, pieces of the paint and drywall slowly disappearing under the blooming fuzz. The world itself revolves around a pattern of growth and consumption, only to grow and consume again. Out of everything I’ve seen in this exhibition, this is the one that resonates most with the title, and with Western Bridge’s pending demise.

These pieces have an earthiness I relate to. I feel the presence and the hand of the artist when I look at them. What more could I ask? I want to know the maker of these things is with me, as buried in the work as I am, making a beautiful mess of things inside and out.

Sadly, most of this show doesn’t give me what I’m looking for, outside of everything I both love and hate about contemporary art. Nonetheless, I will miss Western Bridge when it is gone. Tremendously.

Devouring Time
Western Bridge, Through April 7
3412 4th Ave S, @ Hinds

(I apologise in advance for my blurry cellphone shots below.)

Installation view of Dan Webb, Emilie Halpern, and Matt Sheridan Smith

Alex Schweder La

the pole of infamy

Matt Sheridan Smith

Mungo Thompson and me.

Dan Webb - this is the evidence.

this shot is to explain why I'm in a puffy suit. also motorcycling is as important a part of life to me as art. they go hand in hand.

]]><![CDATA[Brick And Mortar, Gage Academy of Art]]>Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:39:28 -0800http://www.dimensionsvariable.org/1/post/2012/03/brick-and-mortar-gage-academy-of-art.html
At Gage Academy of Art, the Steele Gallery sits at the end of the hallway where the air is thick with the smell of paper, ink, charcoal dust, oil paint, and varnish. It's a comforting smell if you have fond memories of taking art in school, or if you've even gone to art school. You might remember the sweat and rigour of those first few classes or that crippling first year; how crushing your work load was and how quickly you grew weary of these things:

boxes, cones, cubes, spheres, line-weight variation, contours, cross-contours, drawing “without contours” (wut?!), vases, cups, bowls, flowers, plants, trees, paper bags, black plastic bags, odds and ends, old shoes, coats, blankets, drapery, bare light bulbs, legs, toes, heels, hips, breasts, necks, noses, ears, fingers, hair, eyes, darks, lights, sfumato (wtf), chiaroscuro, darkest-darks, lightest-lights, foreground, background, environment, perspective, two-point perspective, architecture, composition, value scales, “formal components”, cranky art models, erect art models, saggy art models, art models who can’t shut up, art models who kick the platform around until it suits them, art models who fall asleep and then fall over; tibias, clavicles, femurs, radius, ulna, and phalanges.

It's exhausting to draw. You never know how hard you have to work until you're working. Professors go on at length about how drawing is a philosophical battle with yourself; that what you see is not really what you’re making (you’ll never win that war but you’ll have some epic battles). But it is a real thing, this negotiation between perceived reality; what you see, what you think you see, what you don’t see, and how you must represent it either faithfully or fictionally.

That faith or fiction in representation is the crux of this show, where the work pays tribute to its roots.

Brick and Mortar is Lauren Klenow’s final curatorial exhibit at Gage on Capitol Hill, showcasing a broad range of artistic narrative from conceptual video to traditional painting. The premise is simple: all work begins with the foundational aspect of draughtsmanship; that underneath even the most conceptual piece is the necessity to see and the compulsion to interpret through line, shape, shadow, and colour.

This exhibition demonstrates more than just the intimacy of line from observation.There is a distinct theme of flow, layering, subtlety, and material throughout the work. There is nothing loud about this exhibition - it’s quiet work that says volumes in its brevity.

Katy Stone’s installation is a layered fall of cornflower blue chenille pipe cleaners. The colour is almost electric, curves bowing out from the wall like so many tails. Living here in the Pacific Northwest it would be easy to recall a dripping rain forest of moss - fortunately this piece is not green, and there is no danger of confusing one for the other. This is more like a cloud. Stone’s a tried and true painter even in her installation work. Her meticulously mapped marks describe her more as a painter in space, rather than canvas. You’re living in the same dimension as the work, not just looking at it.

Adjacent to the blue cascade are two drawings by Amanda Manitach - one of them a return to hysteria and oddly arranged figures; one of which somehow remind me of the hanged man tarot. Drooping in a bizarrely relaxed manner her women are strung up and pinned by the feet, patiently waiting for something. Next to the figures is a drawing of a cup and folds upon folds against an obsessively blocked-in section of graphite. Both drawings are compositionally divided by bright crimson drips. Rather than feeling sinister, these drawings feel seductive. A video next to the drawings displays an absurd list of questions and food being smashed into shoes which follows Manitach's course of logic if you follow the thread of her narratives.

Complimentary to Manitach’s solid graphite blocks and folds are Robert Maki’s tender geometric drawings. They feel intimate. I like the one that puckers. Drawing is meant to be a careful, thoughtful act. In an open rebellion against archival nurture and caretaking, this drawing presses against the glass; crinkled, beautifully executed, and sentimentally framed as though despite and perhaps because of its imperfection, it is critically important that we see it.

Brick and Mortar is an elegant arrangement meant to contemplate the binding thread between artists - the base element of art being the crafted line, the desire to interpret and represent what we see, and how we uniquely translate that vision. Some works have more in common to bind them together than others, but overall the success is that you will leave thinking about the relationship of drawing to contemporary art and form your own conclusions.

Steele Gallery: Brick and Mortar
February 17 - March 20
3rd Floor, Gage Academy of Art

Kelda Martensen, Katy Stone, Robert Maki

Katy Stone

Robert Maki

Amanda Manitach

Nola Avienne

Katy Stone

]]><![CDATA[Recent Projects Featured in Seattle Magazine and The Project Room's Off Paper]]>Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:22:05 -0800http://www.dimensionsvariable.org/1/post/2011/10/recent-projects-featured-in-seattle-magazine-and-the-project-rooms-off-paper.htmlI'm quite please to present a printed feature for LxWxH in the November issue of Seattle Magazine, online and available at newsstands now. Arts and Cultureal Editor Brangien Davis has done a wonderful job of describing the project, making sure it sounds as approachable as the project is meant to be. Stay tuned for details of the November launch party for LxWxH (xHS) - HomeStead.

Also at the end of September I was invited to write for The Project Room's online magazine Off Paper, edited by Jenifer Ward. Inspired by the words and work of Mandy Greer, Amanda Manitach, and Joey Bates I chose to address the processes of process, and what artists who work obsessively must endure to get there. You can read the essay on the site: Gross Accumulation, Percussive Maps, and Finding One's Way

As always, I encourage you to keep checking in on these projects - I am particularly excited about the Project Room's calendar and featured artists! ]]><![CDATA[On Potential]]>Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:54:51 -0800http://www.dimensionsvariable.org/1/post/2011/09/on-potential.html
I'm not sure if I'm about to write about process, writing, studio practice, or being out of practice; but right now I have a jumble of thoughts I have to get out in order to get to the really good stuff.

So I have this little piece of art by Troy Gua. It's one of my favourite pieces that I've acquired this year. It's a little framed canvas dot painted blue, titled Held, and I adore it because it embodies a quantum hybrid of probability.

A quantum hybrid of probability is a multitude of outcomes all happening at once until an observation takes place, incurring the inevitable decisive action. In this case, a piece lives on the wall, waiting. It has been made, but not bought. And yet here it lives on my wall, bought. One can imagine the artist's breath being held in the hopes that the potential buyer will follow through, that it will leave the wall of the white cube to live on the wall of a collector's home. It's slightly sentimental. Or slightly wistful. It is not the definitive red dot of a certain sale; the blue dot suggests anxiety. Things could go either way but for now, things are leaning in its favour. You're not going to know, until you know. So you wait.

As an artist, one lives in such a quantum cloud. While in the studio, the outcome of your efforts is both certain and uncertain. The making of a show has no guarantee of any kind of success, but it holds a lot of hope - the work we make will either leave our hands or it will come home with us to live in a box in the attic. It will either be seen, or it won't. Despite all this uncertainty, there must be some reason we make things, since we're all so busy making things with no discernible or quantifiable outcome. Perhaps we're all just working out some complicated ritual or scientific experiment, or exorcising demons. Many of us are certainly a vain species, building the work for the sake of the work and little else. I am one of these. By the time it's done and on the wall waiting, we're already moving on to the next thing, in hot pursuit of the next idea. The work is its own reward.

And this is where I am living, this cloud of uncertainty, feeling my way along old familiar walls in the dark. I've been building, and drawing, and shifting focus. My studio process has been as exhilarating as it has been frustrating, regaining ground in more analytical efforts, moving away from more narrative ones. Like many artists, I'm stripping away unneccessary material to get as close to the truth of the work as possible; at worst I've become a dry minimalist and at best, a relentless and obsessive editor which is in a way, what the work is about more than anything. I make work about the work, and I write about work the same way, spinning proverbial wool into yarn. The process is incomplete without documentation, record keeping, and tracking the work of others alongside my own. It's difficult to be objective, as I am attracted to very specific things.

But hopefully, embedded in this cloud of probability exists the potential to regain the words I feel I've lost. I'm being sickeningly sincere, right now. But we are beholden to the processes we thrive on, and writing is a critical part of everything, for me. Without it, I live in danger of atrophy. It's been a while since I've really worked out artistic problems in words. Things could go either way but for now, things are leaning in my favour. I'm not going to know, until I know. So I will write, rather than wait.

Troy Gua, Held, 2011

]]><![CDATA[Synesthetes, Somnambulists, and Spectators; Albert Von Keller and Implied Violence at the Frye]]>Fri, 08 Oct 2010 14:44:58 -0800http://www.dimensionsvariable.org/1/post/2010/10/synesthetes-somnambulists-and-spectators-albert-von-keller-and-implied-violence-at-the-frye.html
Ryan Mitchell, founder and director of Implied Violence, talks quietly in the hallway next to an ether dispensing machine. He is explaining the art of dressage - in equestrian sports it is the practise of training the horse to do what one would not naturally do; at times the horse may refuse the trainer's command in a brief, violent outburst before falling back into dressage. This may or may not be perceptible to the untrained eye, but beyond what we can see or believe the horse is engaging an internal battle - he is negating his refusal by continuing the dance in spite of his struggle against it.

It occurs to me that we do this in our lives nearly every day. We're trained to go to sleep and get up in the morning to work, bending to a system which dictates we must act a certain way politically and socially and perform a series of duties to either excel, keep up, participate, or purely survive. It doesn't matter what you’re doing in your life or how independently. You're a part of this. There is no escape. We continue the dance despite our struggles against it. We must constantly negotiate what we see against what we don’t see, balancing what we know against what we don’t.

The performers of Implied Violence demonstrate this dance with abandon and inconceivable discipline, serving as an unflinching mirror to our lives in extreme circumstance. They keep themselves awake for seventy-two hours at a time to endure the torture of ephemeral masks made of wax, tar, and honey. They bounce in place for eight hours straight in preparation to wear a corseted ribbon-encrusted dress. They adorn one another with leeches and knock each other out with ether to further alter their states, their decision making, and their perception of the world around them. They are both removing and immersing themselves in reality. At times, they balk. These are trials of the will. These are queries of fact and fiction, and whether there is a difference between them. While there is certainly enough photo documentation for you to bear witness outside of performance, it is not a reliable indicator of truth - you will have to decide for yourself what is true.

The work is raw, sexual, and art historical. Performer's eyes roll back in their heads as they succumb to fatigue, manic ecstasy, delirium, and ether. We are reminded of the creation of idols, and Bernini's Ecstasy of St Teresa. Lancing and blood evokes St. Sebastian and stigmata. While many of the acts committed in a performance are presented in a violent fashion, there is an accompanying tenderness - cradling, caretaking, responsibility, and comfort to the performer's confusion and disorientation. It’s relentless, but there is an end. We walk away. They walk away. Hopefully, we are changed.

Albert Von Keller is a quiet introduction and accompaniment to Implied Violence. His paintings suggest beauty and glow with a supernatural light. Underneath them lies something more less aesthetically beautiful, far more uncertain, and Other. Although his work doesn't feel as direct as Implied Violence, it's subtly informative and involves romantic things like candlelight, witches, and ectoplasm. But similarly, we learn that states of consciousness are altered, trances achieved, and he claims that "nature breaks out in this moment without restraint" while performers dream-dance and produce flowing emanations.

Von Keller's time was one of new discoveries and technologies; what had previously gone unseen was made visible. The body was the New World, a new line between fact and fiction and the differences between them. In order to feed his fascination, Von Keller engaged in paranormal exploration. He investigated the human psyche, prophesy, and trance states en tandem with the study of Christian resurrection, mystical healing, and stigmata. He held séances and performances in his home and studio, and directed his subjects as they posed for a photographer in order to paint them later. But as with Implied Violence, his photo documentation is not a reliable indicator of truth - you would have to have been there or be willing to synthesise the information in the painting versus the image in the photograph. Here again, you must decide for yourself what is true.

Albert Von Keller and Implied Violence share an examination of the line where our idea of reality begins to blur. While Von Keller records those who step into unknown territory through mysticism, supernatural territory, and religious fervor; Implied Violence actively engages that pursuit through deprivation, bodily exertion or abuse, and tests of endurance. We stand by as spectators, while they endure as synesthetes and somnambulists. They push hard against a veil that we, in dressage, protest and accept all at once; hovering in a quantum state of is/not, yes/no, true/false, real/unreal, natural/unnatural. We must come to admit that despite what we want or seek or strive for, there may simply be no answer at all but our own. We dance, we fight, we dance. Hopefully, we are changed.

Implied Violence: Yes and More and Yes and Yes and Why
9 October, 2010 – 2 January, 2011

Exhibition opens 11am Saturday 9 October with a new performance, The Dorothy K: For Better, For Worse, and Forever; the first time Implied Violence has performed in Seattle in two years.

Séance: Albert von Keller and the Occult
9 October, 2010 – 2 January, 2011

Implied Violence. The World Turned to Ashes in His Mouth, 2010. Art Direction: Ryan Mitchell and Steven Miller. Photo: Steven Miller

Albert von Keller Gisela von Wehner with Daughter Ilka, ca. 1906 Oil on canvas

]]><![CDATA[On Pun(c)tuation, Folklore, and the Making of Things]]>Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:26:21 -0800http://www.dimensionsvariable.org/1/post/2010/07/on-punctuation-and-folklore.htmlShortly after I moved back to the Pike/Pine corridor, I started noticing how this little storefront next to Sal's Barbershop had really interesting things to look at. I’d walk past hurriedly on my way to somewhere else and make a mental note to come back, but every time I came back I had to peer in the window because chances were I was late to another thing and I’d curse under my breath for lack of time. It’s the story of my life, the need to slow down.

I remember one particularly arresting show of portraits I wanted to inspect more closely, and I also remember noticing every time I walked by there were people hanging out together, inside and out, laughing—obviously a tight knit group. I remember feeling a sense of approval, that this is what places showing art should be like. Well that gallery is called pun(c)tuation, and you really need to spend some time there and this is why (and I'm an out-of-practise blogger so this is a total ramble):

In the last couple of years, Capitol Hill has forged a small art presence, on the edge of what I hope is a boom. Grey Gallery (now on hiatus) was the first, followed by Vermillion, to combine efforts of a community hangout (read, BAR), gallery space, and music. I agree with this strategy and want more. While Grey is gone for the time being, the combined efforts of Amanda Manitach and the folks at The Living Room have brought art to their intimate high-ceilinged space with their first opening, It Is Happening Again, a solo show by Joey Veltkamp. And while Crawl Space is now a distant memory, Ghost Gallery has revived what I found to be an awkward but endearing space to have a show; complete with enclosed lawn, people spilling out into the street, and an impromptu barbeque.

Which brings us back to pun(c)tuation. It’s an artist’s cooperative, opened November of last year, and seems to find that beautiful combination of fine art, craft, and folk roots to bring us colorful, intricate, process-based works by artists. Their statement says simply:

A co-operatively owned mixed use space

Focused on sustainable consumption

A home to all seekers of good taste

Incubator for Making and Doing

We are here to do one thing and one thing only: Share

Come partake

I like this newly surfacing verbiage, of calling one’s self a maker, a tinkerer, a cobbler. It’s come to my attention through various conversations that while we understand we’re artists making art, it doesn’t always sit very well, nor does it taste quite right. When confronted with that prickly question of “what do you do” and answering “I’m an artist” I have to find some negotiable way of also saying “no, I’m not a painter or a sculptor, I make large scale paper shit that hangs from floor to ceiling made to look like soft fur but that also feels slightly dangerous and before you ask, no, nothing ever sells” and that’s a cumbersome way to introduce yourself. Rather perhaps I could say “I’m a maker of things”.

So this month’s featured maker is Stacey Rozich, a local artist with Slavic roots. Her imagery is rich and intriguing in the way that only creatures from the dreams Croatia can be. Sparking a memory, her work is evocative of another Slavic-inspired artist, Rachel Budde, who’s pro-cum-ant-agonists have become ever darker, bleeding over the fringe of our subconscious if only to remind us that those monsters are real and actual mirrors of ourselves. The difference is just that – Rozich’s creatures are more friendly reflections; perhaps ourselves in costume as more sinister archetypes. They cross over with Gala Bent’s strange menagerie; they bear two or too many legs, fur, aren’t quite right but aren’t terrifying beasts of the psyche.

Rozich’s own pull towards the irresistible allure of creatures and folklore has led her to pursue images and stories outside of the former Yugoslavia and delve into the worlds of Russia, Scandanavia, West Africa, and Native American mythology. Through her work, we see the threads which combine the elements of human fears, dreams, and storytelling.

Perhaps reminders are simply there to gently inspire us to do or be better, and don’t need to be so frightful as to make us look away. In sensing my own trend towards faerie tale inspired mythology and folklore, I’ve noticed a pull towards the quietly abject: long soft falls of hair, patterned swaths of fur, triangles for teeth, and a consistent recurring theme of danger belied by beauty. I don’t really know why so many of us are going there but I know it’s frankly irresistible.

Patterns of Renewal by Stacey Rozich opens tonight at Pun(c)tuation, 8pm-11pm @ 705A East Pike Street, Seattle WA 98122 and will be up through August 18 2010

]]><![CDATA[On Creating a Seattle-Sized Crater Due to a Small Revolution - Cornish BFA 2010]]>Wed, 19 May 2010 21:16:11 -0800http://www.dimensionsvariable.org/1/post/2010/05/on-creating-a-seattle-sized-crater-due-to-revolution-cornish-bfa-2010.htmlFirst of all, before I start gushing about how far Cornish College of the Arts has come since well, ever; but at least since I've returned to Seattle, I have One. Small. Request.

Dear Cornish, please do your graduating students a favour and level the playing field - paint that black wall white.

Alright here it is. There's a huge space in South Lake Union. The graduating class gets to use it. Inside, once you get past the ridiculously cramped entrance, it's stellar and gorgeous with sweeping high ceilings in some places and a lush uber-pro gallery feel in most places. It's the perfect venue for these fledgling artists to show off their work in the way they deserve. But unlike (oh god, here it comes) my graduating class who painted their own floors, hung the clip-on-lights (perilous ladders over fragile paper installations!) and who painted their own walls if they wanted some funky colour (always under advice to think about it first); there is now a crew who does it for them. I personally feel this robs students of the critically important experience and perspective gained from putting a show together from the ground up.

[edit] Hold up, I'm totally wrong about something. Claire Johnson, SOIL member and exhibition director extraordinaire works her ass off for Cornish to help get this exhibition running smoothly and looking good. She says students do some of the gruntwork, painting, etc. I acquiesce my point above, but I'm sticking to my guns on the theatrics.

Alors! Apparently, the crew is from the theater department. This theatrical attention is expressly given to the Black Room and it shows. Given I've already used the word "theatrical" you can imagine it is that. What about the rest of the rooms and hallway, and oh my, the more cramped ones upstairs? Some might suffer. That's the way it goes, but I'm hoping those who craved more intimate spaces got them, and visa versa. It's only my opinion, but I have to say that two years in a row, the OMGWOW when you walk into the Black Room almost completely overshadows the work on the wall, and in the end it wouldn't matter what was there, it would look good and I don't trust it. For me, this potentially places anyone not in the Black Room at a tremendous disadvantage, and even for a graduating class as strong and cohesive as the last two, this is bad news.

So enough of that, here's the good news - this show has real impact. There's enough amazing art that I actually didn't catch everything on my camera, which made me sad, sad but it meant I was participating! There's a lot of great stuff! All the video work was incredibly strong and captivating to watch and I was so happy to see people playing with the medium.The students and their work are intellectual, smart, and thoughtful. Each artist I stopped to speak with had insightful things to say on what they've built and though they were dazed they held up and came across as professional. Many of them directly referenced past and contemporary art history in their work and conversation, and had a lot of clarity (not to say they're/we're not uncertain or confused on some things) and crafted opinions about the environment they'll be moving into. Most of the work in the Black Room would be good no matter what the colour of the walls. And the work upstairs is not ill-presented and suffering.

These are smart young artists stepping off a cliff into the unknown. Let me tell you something - we are all of us every day, stepping into the unknown. These guys just happen to get a real good chance to do it with bang and with style. And no matter how harsh I've been on my Alma Mater in the past, it doesn't change the fact that I have love for this school, and want to see it and all its graduates succeed. I want to see these artists pour into the scene with passion and vigour. I want to see Seattle grow because she's self leveling, self sustaining, taking care of and nurturing herself.

I think I said it best when I said this:

I want the students to break free. I want them to delve into what terrifies them and come out the other side. I want them to stop fighting the medium and hiding in the comfort of safe ideas. I want them to step outside of their minimum daily requirement of past and contemporary art history and go to First Thursday, Portland galleries, and Vancouver. I want them to get out of the rut which seems to haunt me with the memory of what Seattle art used to be, look like, taste like. Or at least get better at it if they're going to do it.

Dear gradating class of 2009. Don't be scared.Get the hell out there and transform, grow, and do things. Read. Write. Engage, participate and challenge.

So do it. All of us. Together. I'm [We're] right [t]here with you.

The 2010 Cornish BFA Show runs through Saturday 29 May, so hurry! You have 2 Saturdays and a bunch of weekdays!
12-5pm Mon-Sat
9th Ave Studios
427 9th Ave N

Student work from top to bottom: 1,2,3 - John Backstrom, archival prints and video. 4,5,6 - Kris Dales, self-made tools and burnt paper. 7,8,9,10 - Derek Ghormley, various installation, wood. 11, 12 - Eddi Dughi, video and neon. 12 -Anne Kimball, etching and ink. 13,14,15 - Allyce Wood, twine and paper installations.

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