LUX

Last night after hearing about the Susan Street Gallery rejection, I decided to browse Craigslist, as I do daily. In the art/media jobs I found an advertisement for a part time curatorial internship at the LUX Art Institute. Never heard of them? I hadn't either and with good reason; the grand opening of the facility was November 11th. One interesting thing about this lack of knowledge about the facility is that the institute is two miles from my condo, it took me three minutes to drive there tonight. Yes, I went at ten o'clock tonight to check it out because I couldn't believe it was really that close; thus the very dark photo. I sent in my resume last night and received a call this morning. I have an appointment to interview next Tuesday on my lunch break. I did a little research as well because I wanted to be sure of what I was getting myself into. It's not really a school in the traditional sense, but more of an artist colony/museum. The institute is establishing a program to commission work from artists in exchange for giving artists residence for a month or so. While the artist works on the commission, and whatever other work they feel inspired to do, their work will be viewable in progress as a public education tool. In conjunction with the works in progress there will be a permanent collection. It sounds like a really interesting program, and even if I don't get the internship I plan on stopping by regularly. The pros would be art experience to put on my resume, more knowledge about how the art world operates, solace from Toyota, a small stipend, and hopefully some good connections. It's a six month commitment and only 15-20 hours per week, so I can have a full time job and then do this with my other time. It sounds amazing, and because they want a writing sample I've begun serious revisions on my thesis. Once again, wish me luck and I'll keep you updated.

Gallery Update

For those of you who were wondering, I finally heard back today about the gallery job I'd interviewed for two weeks ago. I was told that it was a hard decision, but they went with someone who had more sales experience than I have...cool. Oh well, at least I haven't started applying for any Thomas Kinkade galleries yet, that's when someone needs to intervene. Please don't let me get to that point.

This was posted on today's Natalie Dee comic of the day. Yes, my art degree will save the world.

Sea Wolf

Well, it was a music filled weekend. Last night I went back to the Belly Up Tavern with a group of about eleven people for the FM94.9 concert to benefit "Save the Music"; a campaign to prevent music from being removed from the public school system. The headlining band, Sea Wolf, was who I was most excited to see. As a band they're just barely gaining notoriety, but I can see them getting big pretty quickly. Their song "You're a Wolf" plays all the time on the local stations. The video I took during the concert is of a less popular song called "The Cold, the Dark & the Silence".

Suzanne Vega

Last night at The Belly Up Tavern Keziah and I saw Suzanne Vega. She is an amazing story teller and during the show she took a lot of time to explain the inspiration behind each song. Humorous and armed with an amazingly rich voice, she was an awesome performer. This was one of the best concerts I've been to this year.

I took this video during the show; "Caramel" is one of my favorite of her songs.

Could Be Worse

I'm glad that even though I live in the city, it's a beautiful city.

Office Décor

Sometimes when I'm bored I make things like this, it makes my office a little more cheery. It also makes me feel a little like Larissa Brown, an artist who works almost completely in office supplies.

Feels Like Home

Last night I found the Encinitas version of the Idyllwild Rustic Theatre. Keziah and I went to see Across the Universe so we chose the theatre closest to our house; this is the La Paloma Theatre which shows mostly independent films. The theatre was built in the 1920s, and I don't think much has changed since then. Despite the elaborate, though dilapidated, architecture the place instantly reminded me of The Rustic. I think the reason I associated the two theatres is that they are both a little worn down, are both a little anti commercial, and both embrace the fact that they're out of the ordinary. Not to mention that the building was freezing and I half expected to find lap blankets draped across the seats like they have at the Rustic. Also, I think the ceiling is supposed to be blue, and maybe if they cleaned it the blue would shine through. The details are cool though, it makes me wish some historical preservation activist would decide to revive La Paloma; it has real potential.

Songs About Art

"Sensitive Artist" by King Missile

Culture Fix

Lately I've become a little overwhelmed with the abundance of Toyota in my life; one of my coworkers was fired several weeks ago, and the two of us who have no school or family obligations have been filling in the shifts he would have been responsible for. I spend my days longing to discuss anything other than cars and maintenance schedules. So today I talked Zack and Nathan into going to Balboa park with me before they went off to play Frisbee Golf. We went to the Museum of Photographic Arts for a show called "Picturing Eden" that explores the concept of Eden and examines the way photographic artists try to find paradise in the modern world.

One pleasant surprise was this image by Sally Mann, one of my favorite photographers.

We also took time to explore the botanical gardens.




After lunch the guys went off to their Frolf game and I decided that I hadn't absorbed enough culture to counteract my week, so I went to the MCASD by myself. Right now they have an exhibit up called "Soundwaves: The Art of Sampling". Most of the works have something to do with colors corresponding to sounds, and the works were fairly predictable.

One installation that was interesting was a work by Celeste Boursier-Mougenot "untitled". Though I hate when artists call their stuff "untitled", I liked the audio quality of the work. The artist had arranged three pools of water with various cups and bowls floating inside that collide and create spontaneous tones.

This work was an assortment of distillations and containers, labeled as various musical components, representing the way a work of art is made.

Nancy Reubens "Pleasure Point" in the sculpture garden...I think I might survive the week now; I've had my culture fix.

I got this movie from Netflix this evening, and feel the need to review it because it sheds a light on the art world that I found both intriguing and repulsive. The premise of the film is that a retired truck driver, Teri Horton, finds the painting in question at a thrift store. She pays five dollars for it, decides she doesn't have a place for it, and tries to sell it at a yard sale where she is informed by a local teacher that it looks like a Jackson Pollock painting. At this she exclaims, "Who the $#@%!%* is Jackson Pollock?!?" The movie is full of pretentious intellectuals who dismiss Teri because she is uneducated, and there is no provenance to back up the painting.
Where things become interesting is when the comparisons are made between truck driver Teri and Pollock himself. Jackson Pollock was hardly on par with the established art community, and would have frequented similar bars to those the documentary crew often films Teri in. Hard headed, Pollock wouldn't sell a painting unless the buyer met with all his price demands, even if he was completely broke. In a similar spirit, Teri is offered up to $9 million dollars for the painting at one point, but because she's trying to prove a point to the "experts" she won't settle for less than $25 million (which she's still holding out for).
At one point Teri explains that she got sick of being toyed with and made up her own provenance, which is not unheard of in the art world. She began to explain her acquisition of the painting as a gift from an old bar tender who used to serve Pollock. As Pollock used to pay off debt with paintings, many "experts" actually bought into her story, but she eventually felt guilty and revealed the truth.
The complete refusal of the art community to even look at the scientific evidence as valid astounded me. As the "feel" of the canvas bore more importance on the ruling of the painting as a genuine work than the fingerprint matched to the canvas did. I do agree that there is minimal, if any, forensic evidence to verify the painting as genuine; not to mention that it really does lack some stylistic similarities with verified Pollocks. The fact, however, is that this story is is absolutely fascinating in the way the film makers shed some light on the way the art world operates.

Gallery Interview

So, I just got back from a gallery interview. This gallery is in Solana Beach, which is seriously ten minutes from my condo. The art isn't bad, though it wasn't exactly ground breaking. I liked the owner, and am intrigued by the chance to finally use my degree in some way. The stack of applicants was kind of thick, but I am confident that I came across well at the interview. I'm supposed to find out next week if I got the job or not, so if you feel so inclined please pray that this gallery likes me enough to hire me on. I'll keep you up to date.

Easy Entertainment

I've always been fairly easily entertained, so it's not so surprising that a box of raspberries and a can of whip cream could keep me enthralled for half an hour. I brought home some raspberries from the store tonight because they looked ripe and delicious (and they were). I offered some to Keziah who said "Wait! I have something delicious to add!" Once we added the whip cream we realized that our raspberries looked like they were wearing wigs, so we decided to see how far we could take the wig theme.


Elvis.

Mullet.

Deluxe Mullet.

Angelic...thanks to the camera flash.

Balding Comb over...this one might be a stretch.

The Bob.

Twins.

A bird?

...and a mess.

Fire Aftermath

Almost a year ago, my mom and I went to a baby shower for my friend Alexis out in Fallbrook. They used to live in a canyon, a beautiful canyon, but I remember my mom surveying the canyon and stating that it would be a horrible location for a fire. I believe the word she used was, with plenty of fire fighting knowledge to back it up, "eerie." Well, she predicted it dead on, because that is the very canyon the Rice Canyon fire whipped through. Alexis, Brian and Brenna finished loading up their moving truck the day the Santa Ana winds began, and Fallbrook was evacuated the day they arrived at their new house in Wildomar. For the first week they did their best to shelter amongst the boxes every one else in their family who had been evacuated. Their old house was spared, but the fire did come right to the edge of the property. Alexis' brother and sister in law's house was saved too, but the fire reached the edge of their property too. I took a drive through the area today to see the damage for myself.











This house is where the baby shower had been hosted; notice how close to the property the burn line is. The firemen did an amazing job saving houses; I was impressed.