9 posts tagged “artomatic”
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....
P and I drove madly to get up to D.C. for artists' night at Artomatic.
There's heaps and heaps of stuff going on, beyond the thousand artists whose work was hanging-- a film room with movies playing constantly, a poetry lounge where I could hear people reading their work, bands playing non-stop, an education room with lectures and workshops.... even a tattoo parlor across the floor from my space:
Among those I got to see, briefly, while we were up there was my dear friend Mas, whom I miss terribly. I had spoken to her on the phone a little while ago, and was lamenting the loss of my herb garden to heavy rains, saying that in a few weeks I should drive around the neighborhood looking for where my basil and oregano landed. So she came to see the exhibition-- with a bag full of seeds so that I could replant:
In other news, P is getting very close to completing the darkroom. He's so handy!
Busy? Yes, ridiculously busy. So busy I haven't been blogging or, you know, anything really very fun. Although I've been able to do a liiiiiitle gardening. Only to watch my efforts wash away. Again. For the fourth time. Fifth, this morning, when I jumped out of bed at 4 am to try to save my plants for the latest deluge. SIGH. The few bits that sprouted in the herb garden after the big wash have sprouted and.... nothing. They're the same little sprouts they were when the sprouted two weeks ago. In the meantime, it's been pretty much non-stop fighting with my new computer... it was supposed to make things faster, and the processor is definitely faster, but it has vista on it and vista plays with NOTHING.... so many many many hours have been dedicated to trying to find work arounds that will make the computer more than a place to set down my coffee.
In the middle of that I went and hung my stuff at Artomatic!. It opens tonight, so come on down! I'll be there next Friday, May 16th, for Artists' Night.
So, the 411 on AOM 2008 is:
Opening night is Friday, May 9 and the show closes on Sunday, June 15, 2008
Capitol Plaza I
1200 First Street, NE
Washington, DC
Wednesday | 5 pm – 10 pm | |
Thursday | 5 pm – 10 pm | |
Friday | noon – 2 am | |
Saturday | noon – 2 am | |
Sunday | noon – 10 pm | |
| Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays | ||
My space is on the 12th Floor, SE Quadrant, Space C7. I will be there on Friday, May 16th from 7:30 on for Artists' Night. So come say hey, take a look at the pieces I have up, and come for the view:
That's right peoples, it's that time of year: Artomatic! It's on like a pot of neck bones (as P always says). It's going to be in D.C. this year, near the New York Ave. metro stop on the red line. Registration to open any day now, and new website to be launched at the same addy: www.artomatic.org. So go sign up for the newsletter & you'll get a notice in your inbox telling you when to sign up.
Life has been incredibly busy lately... so much so that I've had to put many many many things on the backburner, including things I like to do, but aren't necessary right this very second (watching movies, reading), things I like to do and are important to me (photography), things that are important because they support other things that I do (updating photography website), things that I wish I had more time to do (research, writing), things that I really need to do and am frustrated that I can't (spend more time with Phil). And blogging. That's way on the back burner. As should be apparent.
So, what am I up to? A lot of work, and a lot of Artomatic. I did get to shoot a concert recently, which was fun, if challenging. The Gin Blossoms played an outdoor concernt in Crystal City, right across from Artomatic on Cinco de Mayo.
The main problem was that it was rainy, and kind of tough to shoot with a tall stage (me a short person), and no good vantage point. And rainy is not so nice. Still, it was fun. There were some real characters there, including a woman who was a few years older than me and was completely, word-slurringly trashed before they hit the stage at 7pm. She kept leaning on me and saying, "do you think that it's dangerous? all those cords in the rain? it's scaring me. I like the Gin Blossoms. I hope it stops raining." Pause. "Do you think it's dangerous?" repeat, ad nauseum. She eventually began talking to a young man who was with his girlfriend (or I assume from the way they kept their mouths suctioned on to each other throughout the show, only coming up for air in order to drink cups of beer in a greedy, desperate sort of way... the way one might expect someone to drink water after stumbling out of the desert, having been lost for two days without water). The young man was also lit up like a Christmas tree, as was his girlfriend (I suspect she was very very unhappy later), and hardly noticed her. Meanwhile, a guy appeared with a grim look of determination on his face and a manner that suggested either psychosis or some drug experience that wasn't quite settling right. He seemed to be on angry ecstasy. When the band came on he shook his fist in time to the music with a serious look on his face, and eventually wrested the tamborine away from the singer. The singer did, in the end get it back. He might have just been a serious fan, as he knew all the words to all of the songs.
Mostly, the rain held off during the Gin Blossoms' set, though it rained on the opening band (the Laura Lee Band), who was quite good (a little poppy for my taste, but she has a great voice). It was an oddly cold evening in general, which seems the be the flavor of this spring. It's been chilly the last couple of days, and it seems amazing that it's already moving into late May and we've only had a couple of days hit the low 80s and hardly any humidity. I'm still wearing sweaters and jackets, which seems downright shocking... it feels like Ithaca finally got my forwarding address and has come to visit.
So the last couple of months have been insane, even by my frantically overextended standards. It's just all been very very full-- mostly of good things, which is always good-- but very very full. So what's another thing added to the mix?
I'm showing at the artDC international art fair that opened last night and will run through Monday at the Convention Center. I am showing with a new collective called Sparkplug that is part of the DC Arts Center. I have four burlesque images in the show (including the one above), which was curated by Lea Ann Bigelow. It's free to get into today (Friday), so you should go take a look! It's open all weekend as well and from 11-5 on Monday (there is an entry fee on other days). I took a quick look around last night and there are some really really interesting booths, including galleries from China, France, Spain, New York, and of course just about everybody in D.C. So come on in and take a look!
And of course a reminder to head to Crystal City to check out Artomatic, which is running through May 20th. Lots of good stuff going on there as well-- performances, films, workshops, seminars, and of course lots and lots and lots of art. Artists' Night is May 4th and it should be a great night with lots of the artists in their spaces. Hope to see you there!
Tonight, peoples! Tonight's opening night... which is why I'm deathly ill. Also, while I'm feeling bummed and whiny about that let me say how very very very sad I am to discover that the Arctic Monkeys-- whom I was just complaining were touring in Japan and not here-- are coming to DC and IMMEDIATELY SOLD OUT, before I could get a ticket. I'm really heartbroken about it :(
But anyway, Artomatic is opening tonight! And there are many many people I know who are going to be showing things or playing or performing or something over the next month, so you should come see them too!
Phil and I are in Room 6D36
Eric Peterson Room 6T17
Chris Chen Room 6A35
Brett Davis Room 6A47
Amber Baum Stairway A (6th Floor)
Pamela (Capital City Rock) Room 6CO8
Anita and Ben Knight Stairway D, at the intersection of Corridors X and C (6th Floor)
Rebecca Gordon's Antomatic installation niche 6B07
Pat Padua film programming in the screening room:
May 9th and 15th 8-10 PM
John Snelson film programming in the screening room:
April 21st 10pm to midnight
May 4th 9:30 to 11:30pm
Rick Callendar performs:
Sunday, April 15 3pm-4pm
Tuesday, April 24 8:30pm-9pm
Saturday, May 5, 7pm-8pm
Map here. Hope I'm not forgetting anyone.....
So if you are in the DC Metro area you should come on down this Friday for the opening... and then come again over the next month, because with over 430 visual artists showing their work and performances, workshops, and film programs every night you could come every day til the show closes and not see everything.
Phil and I are showing in room 6D36. Come out for the Artists' Night opening on May 4th and we'll see you there!
So get registered! Artist registration is now OPEN, so whether you're a painter, a musician, a glass sculptor, or the leader of a cabaret ensemble, get thee to the artomatic website and get yourself registered, and now! It is a super fantastic time that is had by all. You will be much happier if you do.
On a personal note, I've registered and am now fretting over what to hang. Something cohesive.... stuff the works together, that implies a body of work and not just random ADHD photographic behavior....
