Chair Affair practicum

Here is the poster for my practicum which is as a coordinator for an annual fundraising event called Chair Affair. Showing also are some of the chairs and tables gathered so far. The event is this Saturday night. I do a lot of e-mailing, meetings, and asking for favors. Today, I picked up an unusual chair from a wood worker who didn't have time to deliver. I fill in the spaces in my organizing grid just about daily. I'll let you all know how it went. The event is featured in this week's local newspaper entertainment section and my name was mentioned.

credits: poster by Joel Burns

chairs and tables by: Laurie McClave, Lee Katzenbach & Jesse Joshua Watson

public art review -Suburbia

Several of us are reading Public Art Review, so what are y'all thinking about it ?? Which art do you like best ??

The current issue: Suburbia, has a nice mention -by name- of a certain Seitu and his drinking-water fountain for Minneapolis.... as an example of progressive public design, and the controversy that surrounded it. Congrats, Seitu !!

I love the idea of the artist's role as one who helps the community find and celebrate it's own meaning.  Beyond the aesthetic and other  benefits for the local community, this could be seen as part of a larger process of engaging the citizens, perhaps even leading toward global engagement. 

For instance, a person who feels disconnected from their heritage or extended family or the land they live on, is not likely to want to engage with issues larger than their immediate concerns (how shall i decorate my house, which box store is the cheapest ??). However, when one feels connected in a local community, one begins to see the health of that community within a larger community (my village, within my county, within my state, within my country, within my Earth...)  

Disconnectedness is a major symptom of the stereotypical suburbanite... can public art help to heal this ??

PS.. I love the Waterworks Gardens treatment plant (pg 29) and the pedestrian bridge shaped like the mountains behind it (pg 30)

smiles, deanna

other Goddard folks

I really hope ya'll don't mind that, as an administator of this blog, I made an executive decision and invited a couple other Goddard students to join. I thought, unless it was more than Deanna and I talking to each other, the conversation would soon end. Deanna and I could afterall meet at the park or the beach instead.

Here are some studio shots of the work on Turtle Island, Puget Sound.

Kristine's art blog

Hi All,
"clicking" on Kristine's name to the right side of these postings, I found her personal art blog. You must go there--it is so amazing. I'm wild about her clay lunch sacks and her whole fixation on lunch sacks and sack lunches as a metaphor for the internal mother.

ecovention

Sarah asked about "Ecovention" . Sue Spaid, author of the book /curator of the exhibit by that title, says the word was coined in 1999 and is "ecology + invention": an artist initiated project that employs an inventive strategy to physically transform a local ecology.

The work in that book is very-science based, lots of focus on reclaiming trashed waterways and lands and habitat. Some of it really pushes the boundaries of "what is art"; for instance, cataloguing deformities in amphibians or experimenting with oyster mushrooms to clean toxins from soil.

She talks about the debate surrounding older works, such as Smithson's Spiral Jetty, etc. I hadn't realized that he was actually consciously anti-reclamation (as in, don't try to 'pretty-up' the degradation caused by industry).

I really love the works that create gardens to clean waterways, or create habitat. I dream of maybe being able to do work like that someday, that really makes a difference, but I'm not sure how to get there (guess that's why I'm here.... )

nicole's mosaic

Wow, it's just beautiful, Nicole. Remind me how big this is going to be, and where it's located.

You mentioned collaboration: interesting topic. Have you had a chance to read the most recent back issue of Public Art Review (springsummer 2008)... the topic is Collaborations, several articles. Romantic partners as business partnerships; big projects gone very bad; community involvement.

I'd love to hear more about your experience and thoughts or questions on collaboration, it sounds like that's a big part of your process. Why do you choose to go that way ??
smile, deanna

coyote condo

Hi, friends,
Here are some images of the model and drawing for
"Coyote Condo",
which will be installed this June in Webster's Woods, Port Angeles Fine Art Center's sculpture park. This is the first time I've made a sound loop, and used solar panels etc; the condo is made from recycled pallets and a real huge fir stump, and the life-size coyotes will be made from papermache and resin. The sound loop will be beautiful howling and yipping, and perhaps some human monologue....
The premise of the show is "Cascadia", the northwest utopia. And what's a utopia for coyotes without lots of yummy little bite-sized bunnies ??
smiles, deanna
PS - feedback welcome: I hope this work functions as a humorous critique of over-development and land-use issues.

thanks, but...

Thanks'y'all ... but no. When I use the comment box (and have tried dozens of times), it just disappears when I click "post". I've cleared my cache and cookies, I'm using a "google account" profile, enabled comments on my own posts ... but even if I try to comment on a post/thread which I started, the comment just poofs away.

There is a button for "hide comments" or "show comments". You've all been able to leave comments on my posts, can you leave them on Sarah's or Nicole's ??

I can start new threads, but it makes the conversations messier .... we want to dialogue.

So sorry for the hassle, please send other suggestions ??
share the love, deanna

Deanna

I don't think I customized the settings to block a comment. You click on "comment" below each post and in that way you can comment specifically on that post. In the same way you can read what others have written in response to your posting and there is a number to tell you how many. Does that help?

Hey guys!  Nice to hear from you.  Great to hear that the work is going well and you're staying busy, Sarah.  Thanks again for setting this up.

I have been working mostly on the mosaic, which is coming along nicely.  As you may remember, local volunteers are helping set stones.  The list of volunteers grows every day...people seem to be really enjoying this project!  I'm still working on the Solidarity Mural in Oly but progress there has been slow and I'm finding the collaboration on that project to be challenging...the way things go with public art, ya know!

So yes, let's post pics of our work on here and I will respond to Deanna's question just as soon as I finish editing packet two!

looking forward to seeing those turtles and new work from Deanna!

nicole

Hello Nicole

Nicole, I'm glad you logged in. What have you been doing? Did you get the link I sent you for the mural in Portland? That was awhile ago.

To all: I am in a great show at Studio West in Eugene, OR. The link is http://www.visitstudiowest.com/Home.html
Also, I am working for the U.S. Census and I walk around a lot. I have knocked on a lot of doors in PT and found neighborhoods I didn't even know about. It's great to get to know this place even better.
Mark and I are going to make an ambitious proposal for a U of Hawaii call for art in Hilo. It may be crazy, but I want it.
I will download photos of the progress of our turtle commission when I have a bit more time. For now, I'm off to knock on more doors. ---Sarah

public art discussion

Hello, all !!
I'd like to have a thread for those of us interested in public art, to discuss our readings and artworks.
I'll start, but feel free to drift the conversation wherever you may.

Already, I am noticing that to say "I create Public Art" is a very broad topic !!! So far, this semester I've read "Landscapes for Art: Contemporary Sculpture Parks" and "Ecoventions: Current Art to Transform Ecologies". Here is my question to start the conversation:

What does "Site-Specific" mean to you ???

thx, deanna

Setting up Seitu's group blog

Hello All,
I have taken it on myself to set up a clean, clear place for us to meet on the compute, just for Seitu's group. Now I have to figure out how to invite you. Susan, did this for our group last semester--some of you already know this--and I enjoyed this blog spot thing so much better than facebook--no ads, no quizes, no new "friends". We can share work and comment on it. It's a little more serious I guess. Now, let me figure out how to get y'all on it.

--Sarah