18 posts tagged “artomatic”
Worked my last shifts at Zee Artomatica (as someone was wont to call it when meanlouise and I were steering) for 2009. Deinstallation! The very last weekend! It is amazing how many people wander the streets of a major city without a form of identification on them. (One needs this in order to remove their art from the site). This was my reaction, but also the reaction of many of the other participants doing shifts. At a certain point it occurred to me that all of us who were just baffled that one would leave the house in DC without ID on them (the mantra that all of us said was, jeeeez, it's DC! What if something happened to you?) were of a certain age. (That age being old enough to have lived through the crack epidemic. According to Freakonomics, which I just read for my reading group, I moved to NYC the year that was, literally, the pinnacle of the crack epidemic. Even today I can barely force myself to go to the mailbox without ID, just in case something happens). (That said, I wasn't all that impressed with the book, but I am saving that for our book group discussion).
ANYHOODLE. The realizations of the weekends were 1) Traffic on the I-95 is teh suck no matter when/what day you go. AGAIN it took four fours to get to Alexandria, three and a half to get home. One hundred miles, almost exactly, each way, most of it a 65mph zone. 2) If you spend four + hours getting to Zee Artomatica, this is not good prep for being at Zee Artomatica without food for the next ten hours.
As grouchy as that made me feel, how grouchy could I really be? meanlouise was there for most of the very long day with me, though she was not signed up to do a shift-- how good of a friend does that make her? A very very good friend. Not only that, but when we got back to her house (because she *also* put me up for the night-- see what I mean?), Mr. fishinnards had made the most superfabulous mean of vegaterian enchiladas, rice, and refried beans. Holy frijoles, was it good. AND he made reeeeeally good magaritas to go along with it.
But wait! There's more! If you didn't see the Rebecca and Eric Gordon sound installation at Artomatic this year, then you are sad. However, I am happy because as a result of their wonderful installation, we now have a beehive!
I'm really psyched about this! It may be too late this year to establish a hive, but I'm checking into things. In any case, we will have the hive up and buzzing for next summer. Wheeeeeee!!! Super extra huge thank you to both of y'all !
I've had a couple more things come in in the garden. The yellow pear tomatoes have been coming and coming, and Mr. Dr. Birdcage has been eating and eating them. I also had my first Roma tomato come in today, which I'm pretty psyched about. I should note that all of my veggies are grown from seed rather than from plants, so I'm always really excited when one actually gets to the point of fruiting.
More cucumbers came in, though the plants really aren't fruting like they did last year. Not sure why, but those that have come in are nice looking, and we've been eating a looooottttt of fridge pickles.
The other thing that is coming is is beans, though the bunny ate most of the purple queens. The string beans are high enough up that, other than the plants that he gnawed right through and killed, he hasn't done too much damange to them....
with travel to boot! Heading down into the peanut patches of SoVA for work, then back up to the D.C. for a little Artomatic action and visit with m'parents on top of it. busy busy busy....
We were at Artomatic on Saturday night for meet the artist night:
Rebecca and I enjoyed Dale Hunt's funhouse like paintings. Of course we both like his work in any case, since we both have pieces by him from Artomatics past.
It was lots of fun. Artomatic is pretty superfantastic this year-- great space with lots of interesting stuff. Go visit while it's still going on-- through July 5th!
I spent a bit of the weekend out in the garden, though not as much as I would have liked. Sadly, I spent most of it doing my least favorite gardening task-- weeding. I got about half done, but now it's raining, so I'm sure that all my work will be for naught, as it's meant to rain for the rest of the week.....
We are still having serious earwig problems. They seemed to abate a little when I swabbed the deck (literally!) with homemade insecticidal soap, but with the rain washing away the effects, I'm thinking they'll be back in force. They've started chomping on the zucchinis and beans and peas, which I'm rather unhappy about. And boy howdy do they looooooove the flowers I have on the deck.
Artomatic has opened! Lots and lots of inneresting stuff. We started off by watching our friend Bink perform-- including our wedding song. He was great as always-- come see his second Artomatic date if you missed the opening night show! And buy his CD!
We all walked around quite a bit, and by the time we left I was totally beat. Phil actually made it through all the floors. I actually saw the 9th floor, and sort of saw the 8th and 7th, and then was too pooped to really go on. But I did see lots of friends that I haven't see for a good long while, so it was a good night. We saw friend Anita, who has some lovely metallic prints up on the 9th floor. Her son Ben is in the space next to hers.
Our friend Erin Antognoli is also up on 9, with a really well put together display. Our friend the Reverand Pat Padua (he officiated at our wedding) is also on 9 (which is clearly where the cool kids hang out) has some really great pieces. Go see Salvatore Ferro's work, also on 9-- he's gone in a new direction with his work. Our friend Brett Davis is on the 6th floor, and is pushing the boundaries of what photography is with these pieces.
Dear friends Rebecca and Eric, of Antomatic fame, has brought the bugs back, this time with a great bee sound installation. Also on, yes, the 9th floor. She also had the most fabulous dress in the place, and they were very generous in hosting us for the night and plying us with middle of the night popcorn. Thanks guys!
We also met up with Todd Gardner, who has a whole bunch of new work that I like very much. In years past he has shown pieces from a large portrait series that he has been working on for quite a while (I sat for one), which I liked a lot, but it was really interesting to see the new work, and also good to see him. He is next to one of several bondage themed spaces. Ah, Artomatic.
She's on the 8th floor-- don't miss it.
Sooo much to see-- I'll need to spend more time working my way down to check out other floors. What are you waiting for? Get on over to Artomatic!
So come on down!!
55 M Street, SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
Navy Yard metro stop
It's going to rock!
P and I drove up to D.C. to install my space at Artomatic. What would I do without him? (Answer: not have an installation)
It is a good thing that he was there. Even if he looked grumpy. He wasn't actually grumpy, he just made a grumpy face when I took his picture.
I'm on the 7th floor, space number 5. It's a good spot, near the Peeps, near a window. And close to toilet island.
There are, of course, this being Artomatic, all sorts of interesting things going on. Lots of exciting events, lots of interesting installations, lots of wackiness. Isn't there always wackiness? Some of the usuals, some that I hadn't seen before, but more than a thousand visual artists and a bazillion performers, so all well worth a visit. Everyone should come this Friday, as it is opening night-- always a blast-- and our friend the indominable Bink is playing the Cabaret stage at 8pm. He's going to play our wedding song, which is called Gas and Matches. Phil is his tallest fan :)
So come on down and enjoy the spectacle!
So. I am on travel this week. Two days out, one day back, two days out again starting at early o'clock tomorrow morning, followed by many hours of driving. Here is what is news this week:
1) It is rainy. Really, really rainy. Like ten straight days or so. My plants, they are crying now, as they are waterlogged. Sun please. Thank you.
2) I stopped by an antique store in podunk that I have passed a number of times before (it being on a major route that leads to other places I have had need to visit). There were some interesting books, of which I picked up a few. A lot of bottles. No, really, a LOT of bottles. Of different kinds. And some crockery. Why is crockery so popular at antique stores? Anyhoodle. There was a set of shelves that had coke bottles on it. All the bottles looked the same, and still contained coke. Each was labeled with a different city in Virginia. I can only assume that these were the places where the specimens had been collected. In 1947 or whatever. They were in alphabetical order.
3) When I went to look at the books there was a large selection of "inspirational" titles. Lots of bibles, in different languages. Collections of tracks on various topics. And on the shelf across the way, vintage porn. Not Bettie Page vintage, but like Hustlers from the 70s. Not exactly what I was expecting.
4) Still haven't had a chance to get my Artomatic thing together.... hope I can get it done this weekend....
5) Also? The eighties are back. Sadly.
Thing number one: Artomatic registration is open! So go sign up to be part of the fun! I decided to do something completely different for Artomatic this year. If I can pull it off. We'll see.... I'm heading out in a bit to start working on it...
Thing number two: what is the purpose of traffic reports? I guess I get it in some places-- we live on the south side of Richmond, which means we have to cross the river to get home. So I get it when it can help you with choosing an option-- the Boulevard bridge is blocked, I'll take the Lee instead- I can see the usefulness. But when there are no options, is this not just there to infuriate you? I was in NoVa for work this week and spent four and a half hours getting from southern Fairfax Co. to Richmond yesterday, and every twenty minutes a man would come on the radio (tellin' me no-a-no) to say that the traffic was super heavy from Backlick Road to Triangle. I got on 95 at Backlick and had to go past Triangle, so the three hours it took me to cover that distance I knew, even without confirmation, was "slow going." The problem is that if you're on 95 south, you have rather limited options, so it isn't like being warned is going to help me any. Instead, I just sat there, doing 8 miles an hour and rolling my eyes when I was told that the traffic was heavy where I was. It isn't even useful for telling me how much further before there is some relief-- "past Triangle"? There's a lot of space "past Triangle." (Traffic went through the Yeti Siting Cycle, as Mr. Dr. Birdcage used to call it when he was still commuting to Falls Church-- everyone speeds up, then slows down for no apparent reason, speeds up again, slows down again for no apparent reason. He used to say that they all must have spotted a yeti, and this is why they slowed down. This went on until about ten miles past Fredericksburg. Which is a good clip "past Triangle," thank you).
Besides, the traffic report is virtually the same every single day: "Twenty minute delay on the Wilson bridge, inner loop slow going between (fill in one exit) and (fill in second exit), outer loop running with a thirty minute delay between (exit a) and (exit b)." Feel free to add in something about an accident or disabled vehicle blocking several lanes of traffic, along with residual rubbernecking delays. Oh, and metro has reported delays on the Orange line at East Falls Church. Can we just reserve the traffic reports for something really different and/or worthy? Like, you know, "a giant meteor has plowed into the inner loop of the Beltway, Armageddon is making its way up north on I-495, and there is a 12 day backup on the outer loop due to a 983 car pile up at the Backlick Road exit."
Okay, I did not go to the Mall to watch the inauguration.... if inaugurations were held in June, I might've done, but, erhm, it was like 17 degrees out. And since I did not have tickets, I woulda been back with the jumbotrons, so, you know, watching it in HDTV in my friends Rebecca and Eric's warm living room in Alexandria seemed like a perfect solution. We watched, we cried (well I cried-- what a speech!), we drank champagne.... (and just in case you're trying to remember why the End of the Dark Time and the Departure of the Vapid One is such a celebratory occassion, check out the top 25 Bushisms over on Slate. I am particularly fond of number 11. Make the pie higher! Make the pie higher!)
Worked my double shift over the weekend at Artomatic-- exhausting, but fun. The event made the TV news in D.C. a bit ago--- you can watch the clip here.
Sadly, I'm having a sad and crappy time of it at the moment, despite the AOM fun. So I spent my weekend trying to bring other, not so crappy things, into my weekend. P has been helping me work on a project for a show that is coming up kind of right now. What would I do without him?
Not the final piece.... step one, though... hope it works out....
