Archive for Uncategorized
December 30, 2008 at 4:28 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
As this year comes to a white and snowy end, I reflect back on a year full of festivals, new friends, artistic inspiration, Netflix, weddings, travelling and optimism. Economy be damned, let’s raise a drink to you, 2008. Here is a list of 3 things that made 2008 most enjoyable for me.
1. First Thursdays
Every year seems to top itself when it comes to Portland’s artistic community’s shining day, the First Thursday art walk. Summer First Thursdays are the most popular, drawing the biggest crowd. This summer, I even saw a professional tour guide, walking backward leading a large group down the crowded streets. The summer street fair is littered with fire dancers, pot and bucket bands, and interpretive street performers who will act out answers to any of life’s problems. While winter First Thursdays lack the street performance element of the summer, they make up for it with quality, and presence of wine. Here are a few unique exhibits I saw this year.
The Core gallery is advantageously positioned on the 2nd floor of the Everett Station Lofts, the microcosm of Portland’s new and experimental art spaces. What is unique about this gallery is that it exists in a crawl space, so it is only 3.5 feet tall. Forcing adults to shed their footwear and experience art while on all fours. It has been host to many unique exhibits including the recreation of woman’s womb.
November’s opening at the new Anka Gallery also at Everett Station featured ” The Magic of Spontaneous Expressions.” And, instead of featuring finished art pieces, they displayed and exploited the artistic process. Several artists, young and old, took up brushes and painted from their colorful palettes live, with no particular goal or end result in mind.
Also at the Anka Gallery was this stunning exhibit by Portland photographer, John Wiley Howington. His large-scale moody photographs were taken with a pinhole camera, and in the 30 minutes it took to record the photo, a sound recording was made as well. As you stand before saturated images of the European cities of Prague and Vienna, through the headphones you can hear the noises of your surroundings. Doors creak, a woman strolls by in high heels, and a couple passes, speaking in foreign tongues. A truly unique gallery experience.
2. Farmers Market
I have truly come to appreciate and utilize the Portland Farmers Market this past year as I focus more on eating more healthy, sustainable and local food. While I more often attend the Farmers Market close to home, Hillsdale, on occaision I find myself in the center of Portland’s finest, in the South Park Blocks. I enjoy the spectacle of colorful booths overflowing with fruits, vegetables and unidentifiable roots of all varieties. There are kids in strollers, hippies and students all crowded around vying for a sample of artisan cheeses. I purchase a bag of fresh pears and a container of the best organic tomato juice and smile on my way down Park.
3. p:ear
Every year I try to involve myself in some sort of charitable endeavor whether it be pro bono design work, cleaning up litter, or Big Brothers Big Sisters. This year, among other things, I got involved with p:ear, an amazing organization devoted to the cause of creatively mentoring homeless street youth. Having no previous experience with homeless street youth, the thought of working with these kids was quite intimidating and daunting. However, with the encouragement of Joy and the p:ear crew, I started devoting my Thursday evenings to helping out at the center and playing with the kids. I found the experience to be quite comfortable, natural, and rewarding. I had my palms read and fortunes told by a burgeoning mystic, I talked about the benefits of a Linux system with a savvy computer entreprenuer, and I lost many a game of Boggle and “pirate Scrabble.” Unfortunately now, the schedule no longer includes Thursday evenings so I am left to volunteer for p:ear in other ways. Lately that has namely been pouring beer at benefit events, and planting hundreds of tulip bulbs (see image above). Hopefully this year brings more involvement.
Cheers to 2009!
November 4, 2008 at 8:43 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
September 14, 2008 at 3:34 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
As the last days of summer roll into fall, I have started a project bound to keep me busy through the rainy season. Essentially the project is a book that will be made up of contributions of images and text from Portlanders about Portland. It will be part yearbook, part coffee-table book, part Portland insiders travel guide. My overall goal for the book is to create a greater sense of community identity and pride in Portland and capture the spirit of the city at this point in time. The resulting book will be a cross section of community views and values told through personal stories and images. Each submissions would include a paragraph or so of text describing ONE thing you love about Portland that makes it unique. Topics could range from the smallest details of a hidden neighborhood, the philosophy of the people, a microbrew, a single person, a restaurant, or a particular event. I am looking for a wide range of submissions that capture many different aspects of the city in this place in time - weird, wacky, smart, touching, trendy, etc. A submission would also include an image - a photograph, art piece, or anything that illustrates your text submission.
You will find more details here: www.ourportlandstory.com.
Much of the promotion I am doing for the submission call will be grassroots and word of mouth, so if you like the project please help me get out the word by passing the information along to interested parties. Of course I also encourage you to enter if you are a Portlander! Thanks for your help telling our story!
August 11, 2008 at 10:52 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
At the end of July, my partner and I journeyed East, on a much needed vacation, seeking adventure, inspiration and a reconnection with family members far from my everyday stomping grounds. Our journey began in Vermont, ended in New York City and our experiences were as varied as those two extremes.
Vermont - Bread & Puppet
Self-described as “Cheap Art and Political Theater in Vermont,” Bread & Puppet in Glover provided a truly unique experience, far outside the bounds of traditional art appreciation. Upon entering Bread & Puppet, you are greeted by a broken-down Kesey-styled bus that contained a free art museum full of self published “zines,” the usual slew of anti-war/bush/capitalism posters, and other found art masterpieces.
You pass by a large, standalone brick oven that on any given day produces several freshly baked loaves of sourdough bread. Then you enter the main building, an ancient barn, a piece of art within itself, that housed the puppet museum.
These puppets are unlike any puppets I have ever seen, and in no way resemble the sock or paper bag variety. These “puppets” are huge - some 40 ft tall - mystical paper mache creatures, draped heavily in colorful fabrics and meticulously painted. We walked among the aisles of puppets resembling the founding fathers, scenes from fairy tales, nightmares and religious figures. While many puppets are now out of commission, there are still an active group performing their colorful political theater weekly for a growing captive audience. Sourdough philosophy circus & pageant, you cant get more interesting than that.
Montreal
We left the back country of the Northeast Kingdom and ventured out of the US - north to Quebec - to scope out our friendly French Canadian neighbors. After a short drive we were deep in the heart of Montreal, walking through the cobblestone streets of Old Town. Old Montreal has the feel of Europe with its enormous gothic Notre Dame catherdral, sidewalk cafes, carriage rides and of course, the rich French language. Although steeped in history, Montreal emits a distinctly modern and progressive flair with its carless street (Aires Libres), gay district (the village), and flair for design.
Our goal was to fit in with the locals and not look like tourists, which was immediately shot whenever a friendly Canadian addressed us in French beyond the greeting “Bonjour.” Then we were forced to sheepishly admit we were not versed in their language. I almost created an international incident when I tried to pay for a beverage with a Canadian dollar bill which apparently had been out of circulation since 1987 (replaced by the dollar coin). After much fussing on the part of the young cashier, the man in line behind me stepped up to the counter and explained the bill and offered to buy my beverage for me. Quite a neighborly thing to do! Merci!
Highlights of the day were walking through Mont Royal, eating an amazing lunch at a french restaurant at the Historic Hotel Nelligan, not to be topped by our dinner poutine (french fries covered in gravy) dinner. Overall a fantastic journey, wearing my shoes thin, wrinkling my passport, and practicing my "Merci beaucoup".
New York City
The final stop on our journey, the grand city of New York, central hub of all things art, culture and design in the US. We stayed off the tourist path this time and headed straight for the Whitney Art Museum. At Whitney we studied up on Buckminster Fuller, the great modern renaissance man, and got turned around by Paul McCarthy, best described as a performance artist who creates perceptual disorientation by spinning mirrors, rooms, and slamming doors.
Then, on to MoMA, we gawked at the normal assortment of paintings from greats like Picasso, deKooning, Dali, and of course NYC’s own Warhol. I was completely shocked upon entering one room when one wall was completely covered with 3 large panels of thickly layered paint piled in globs that accumulated to form one panoramic scene…Monet’s waterlilies. However spectacular this was for me, seeing my childhood idol’s ultimate masterpiece inches from my face, I was also very disappointed. Monet painted his waterlily scene as a COMPLETE panorama in the round, meant to be endless and seamless. Now museums have broken that continuity, and with it, that feeling of being enveloped in the scene. I was long awaiting the day I would travel to Givery, France and see the waterlily panorama in its original form as Monet intended. Now, seeing it half complete, took away that magic. Maybe there is still hope and someday it will return to its native land a complete unit, and you can bet I will be first in line.
In addition to the art, we indulged in many other NY favorites like pizza at Grimaldis, cheesecake, and bagels. We took every form of transportation available, subway, taxi, train and walked miles and miles through the streets of SOHO, Greenwich Village, and Williamsburg. We walked through flea markets and old Bob Dylan haunts, through ritzy Manhattan streets, and dipped our toes in the east river. Thanks to Curtis and Lydia our NYC tour guide team extraordinaries!
As a designer, I was thrilled to learn that design expert/celebrity Steven Heller and blog pioneer Jeffery Zeldman would be speaking at a book reading for the collection “Field Tested Books” produced by Coudal Partners of Chicago. I was stoked, I had my pitch to Steven Heller rehearsed, my business cards in hand. The event was held at a rooftop bar just feet from the Williamsburg bridge. We arrived just on time, and were disappointed to see a small crowd (of about 20) had already gathered and filled up the only part of the bar from which the speakers would be visible. I settled in to the nearest spot I could, directly behind a water feature. When the program began I found not only could I not see the speakers, but due to the rushing water, could also not hear. Not to be dissuaded, I squeezed into a corner, climbed onto a chair, and through a palm tree, took the above photo of Steven Heller, then promptly finished my glass of red wine and left. Sigh, maybe next time.
May 27, 2008 at 7:56 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I just wrapped up reading The Mother Tongue - English and how it got that way by Bill Bryson, and between that and my recent trip to Ashland’s Shakespeare Festival, I am starting to view the English language in a whole new light. Not only is English the most widespread language, it is also the most unwieldy. It draws its roots from countless other languages thus accounting for the blatant spelling and pronunciation discrepancies that confound foreign tongues. The rules of our language are largely disputed and constantly in flux, although not for lack of trying of the part of some important linguistic fellows. One, Noah Webster - who created what became one of the most widely distributed dictionaries, and was largely regarded as a uptight, humorless and staunchy ass (arse if you lived a couple hundred years ago). He also wanted the two ingredients of a bread bowl to be spelled “soop and bred.” Then there was W.C. Minor one of the largest contributers to the Oxford English Dictionary who did all of his work from his residence inside an insane asylum. Obviously cataloging all of the English language is not a task for the socially blessed.
Some fun facts:
Root of O.K.
One of the most common expressions in all the English language and most obvious “Americanism” is O.K.
There are three theories as to its roots. 1. It stands for some important person’s initials such as Indian Chief “Old Keokuk,” or Martin Van Buren’s nickname “Old Kinderhook,” and was stamped as a mark of their approval and thus, quality. 2. It formed from the roots of some English dialect such as the Finnish “oikea” or the Choctaw “okeh” (Woodrow Wilson was a big proponent of this theory). 3. It is a shortened version of the old expression “oll korrect,” spelled by semi-literate President Andrew Jackson. If this is the case it may have a long lost partner in O.W. for “oll wright.”
Swearing
It hard to believe but in 19th century England puppy and cad were risque (a French word from risquer, to risk) but shit (formely scitan, then shite) was acceptable. In most languages one of the biggest insults you can throw at another human being was to directly accuse your target of incest. Hence the tu madre or your mama expression. Cut someone off in traffic in Germany and you may be called a schweinehund (pigdog); aggravate a Finnish lad and he may cry ravintolassa meaning in the restaurant. I would go into the history of the word, f*&% but it is not appropriate here, maybe in another hundred years.
Rhyming
On a final note, the book discussed wordplay and in particular, different forms of rhyme. They gave the example of the Burma-Shave ads of the 1920s that used rhyme to tell quick stories about men using their product (see sample graphic above). Their rhymes were broken up across many freeway billboards so you read one part of the phrase at a time as you drove. An example, “A peach looks good with lots of fuzz, but a man’s no peach and never was.” Or “If wife shuns your fond embrace, don’t shoot the iceman, feel your face.” I love the simplicity, the wit, the rhyme such is a reflection of its time. But seriously I am now trying to think up little rhyming quips for my clients. What rhymes with Sports Rejuvenation with Active MSM?
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