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BOX 13 Collective: Right To Assemble
February 06, 2012
If you will be in the San Marcos, TX area, please stop by the art galleries at Texas State University and see the new exhibition, BOX 13 Collective: Right To Assemble. Opening is Thursday, 2/9, 5-7pm. It is an exhibition of only collaborative pieces between Box 13 Art Space members.
I myself being a Box 13 member, made a sculptural piece with members, Karen Brasier Young, Emily Sloan and David McClain. We disassembled an 8-ft diameter sun pinata into 4 pieces, reworked them separately based on parameters that we set, and then reassembled the fractured star in the gallery. My piece is the wall pinata in the image below. Inside McClain’s piece (floor section) is the soundtrack and title to our collaborative piece, Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr.’s 1977 hit, You Don’t Have to be a Star Baby
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Art in Empty Spaces
November 22, 2011
A few months ago, I came across a non-profit group whose sole purpose was to connect artists with companies who have empty retail space so that the artists may carry out temporary exhibitions and performances. I thought this was a genius idea! Instead of charging the artist, curator or organization for the use of its location, the company joins forces with them in order to spur interest in a vacant space that may be lacking prospective tenants. During openings and performances, people not only look at the art, they look at the space. The event showcases possible ways the space may be utilized as well as what kind of traffic the location can attract, a great sales tactic! I would love to start something like this in Houston, making it easier for artists and independent curators to find available exhibition space.
This kind of tactic is actually how the PG Contemporary exhibition I was just in came to fruition. PG Contemporary’s landlord was sitting on vacant property only two storefronts down from the gallery. The landlord did not charge anything to host the temporary annex show. Added bonus: It is rumored that someone contacted the landlord about renting the space for a gallery. With artist projects such as Sharsten Plenge’s plan to transform an abandoned JCPenney into an art complex in Houston, I think it is about time H-town had its own non-profit resource to utilize vacant property and bring art to new areas of the community.
If you know of any non-profit organizations who focus on this, please let me know. I would love to visit them and learn more about how they function.
b.
PAN Y CIRCOS: group exhibit, Houston, TX
October 24, 2011
Hello friends,
Above is a walk-through video created by one of the co-curators of the current exhibit I am in. Pan y Circos is a group exhibit curated by Robert Boyd, editor/publisher of The Great God Pan is Dead, and Zoya Tommy of PG Contemporary Gallery. I encourage everyone to go see it! I think they did a wonderful job and I am honored to have been selected to participate. You can also read a review from Houston Press here!
The Lens Capsule
September 14, 2011
I want to fill everyone in on a new curatorial venture between myself and Emily Peacock. We are hosting multiple one-night exhibitions out of a rental truck for emerging lens-based artists living in Texas. The shows will correlate with the 2012 Fotofest Biennial. We plan to pull the truck up to all the largest openings and events with outdoor foot traffic.
My desire is that this will give artists on the verge of starting their careers a chance to experience the excitement of sharing their artwork with a large audience. I remember my first solo exhibition. It was soon after I received my BFA and I saw it as the perfect confidence booster as I moved into my MFA. With The Lens Capsule, I can’t help think of the usual venues for emerging artists during Fotofest. Coffee shops, studios-turned-galleries and other small obscure locations with little art community attendance tend to dominate. This format of exhibition brings art directly to the people other than trying to bring the people to a remote space. I hope people take advantage of Emily and I’s efforts.
For more information, visit www.thelenscapsule.com.
WINNER!!!
August 04, 2011
Yesterday, I received a call from CultureMap Houston announcing that I was CultureMap’s and Lawndale Art Center’s People’s Choice Award Winner for the 2011 Big Show! I was absolutely delighted. With awards/grants/proposals, I have always been told that decisions are partially based on who the juror/jury is each year. Everyone has an opinion and we have to accept that our work may not always fit one person’s opinion of good art. However, when a large percent of a group of people vote for your work, that is a good feeling! Even though the trophy is all humor, the award is actually a great honor. Thank you to everyone who voted! You can read what CultureMap wrote here:
A sinister pink romance: The Lawndale Big Show People’s Choice Award winner is …
ManyMinis @ Skydive Art Space
July 15, 2011
If you are a Houstonian and have not visited Skydive Art Space this week, boy are you missing out! This week, from 12:00am Sunday, July 10th to 12:00am Saturday, July 16th, there was/is a constant cycle of artists, writers, musicians and creative enthusiasts in general working on mini residencies around the clock. This week-long event is hosted by an adventurous couple who kicked off the project in Berlin in 2008, with plans of hosting the next event in Copenhagen in 2012. To see some of the other residents’ projects, please visit their website: Many Mini Residency. Also check out the write-up they received on Culturemap: Condensed Creativity.
I was lucky enough to have a two-part residency (the proposed project only ended up using 1 of the 2 requested time slots). So instead of wasting that time, I used it to create a second project! The first day was used as a collaborative opportunity between me and a dance Group called Them. I used sheets left from Hypnopomp to cloak all the furniture in the room as well as the dancers. Given the empty space provided by Skydive and its old plank walls, I imagined it as a deserted home, full of stories. The dancers improvised movements using the sheets to see what movements best conveyed a sense of spookiness without screaming ghosts. I am very excited with the video footage and hope to work with the group again.
On the second day, I coaxed the public to participate in an audition-style video piece. Everyone who came by the art space for public hours had the opportunity to stand in front of the camera and then pretend to be shot by a gun. I gave them the options of a funny shooting or a serious shooting, lethal or not. I found it interesting how life-like some people were, or how common themes/patterns developed as more people were “shot”. I hope to continue this video project in the future so that I can collect a much larger group of shootings. However, I was very excited with the performances I received in this first round.
BIG SHOW!
June 22, 2011
Come one, come all, to Lawndale Art Center’s Big Show!
I will have two pieces in the show. You can see my video, DUET, as well as the suit body, Casualty in Formality. In addition, if you come to the opening on July 1st (see link), there will be free alcohol and a DJ! As they say at Lawndale, come and literally rub shoulders with the art world!
In addition, there will be a slide jam at a later date in July. Please stay posted for future events.
b.
A Prospective Place @ Skydive Art Space
May 08, 2011
prospective: looking towards the future.
place: a particular portion of space, whether of definite or indefinite extent.
Last night I had one of the most surreal experiences at Skydive Art Space. As part of their The Future is NOW! Fundraiser, I performed a new piece titled A Prospective Place (lovingly and competently titled by the platonic love of my life, Shane Platt). Rosine Kouament and Emily Peacock took turns washing (for ritual sake) and disinfecting (for hygienic sake) people’s hands and giving them the rules of the experience while I patiently and blindly waited at the top of a stairwell for the next person to enter.
What were the rules?
You must wash your hands, only one person at a time, and you can stay as long as you wish.
With the exception of a few people who talked to me, I had no clue who anyone was. I had originally intended to include a camera up top so that I could see people approach, but I am so glad I did not. Having no camera gave me the opportunity to experience an intimate moment one-on-one with many people, no strings attached, no identities revealed (well, besides mine). It gave people an opportunity to be open and free with themselves and me. Some people massaged my hands, others poked and slapped them, but many caressed and held them (with a few who did some very arousing things that honestly blew my mind!). I am so curious how people’s experiences were from the other side. They had the power in this situation. They had the choice to touch and how to touch. I did not give myself those choices. Whoever reached out to me, I responded.
Anyhow, thank you to everyone who came out to support Skydive Art Space and I hope you had a splendid evening!
-b
The Future Is NOW!
May 06, 2011
Please come experience my one-night installation/performance at Skydive Art Space tonight, May 7th, 6-9pm!
