AN INVITATION TO JOIN MY EXPERIMENT IN GROUP ART

No art experience necessary. Nothing to be intimidated about. But if you are an artist, you can play too.

The essential element of this project is to give you the opportunity to be part of this work of art, to be able to look at it when it is on display, and find your piece or the contribution of someone you may know.

I am interested in the outcome (the destination), but I am also equally interested in the process (the journey), and to whatever extent my own vision is realized. I hope to be surprised.

The concept is simple - to create an abstract piece of art with input from many people. This is not a  collaboration with all those messy decisions and compromises, where we have to come together and decide what it is we want to draw. It is much simpler. I have the design and I have the constraints already laid out.

It is a simple design of  Statement,  Expression  and  Color

So What Does It Look Like?

Let me draw you a picture... my original napkin sketch:

The "canvas" will be a set of boards - repurposed lumber, constructed to be around 3' in each dimension. There will be some metal to cover the edges and it will be painted in a neutral/earthy grey.

The canvas will be filled with WORDS and IMAGES

On the left side will be a story board. It will be used to accept WORDS.

On the right side will be IMAGES.

Think of it as a metaphor for a MOVIE... The left side is the script; the right side has the pictures. Words and images. But in an abstract sense, and without any necessary connection between the 2.

The Words

Be Still

The words - like the example above - should be chosen because you like them... their sound (cacophony), their look, the statement they make... words, phrases, toyful ramblings (spell 1969 in the shape of the numbers) , intersecting words, ambiguous lines -- that signify, rally, pacify (Peace, man !), imply, make no sense at all (Four is just a number) ... to most people, anyway.  Statements.  Be angry. Be loving.  Offer a rallying cry (DIE YUPPIE SCUM !). Something bizarre (I knew Cathy when she was Kathy), arcane or poetic.  Just, not stuff of yearbooks and not someone else's. Don't quote Shakespeare unless you are Shakespeare. These are your words or words that have become your own, or used to be your own (I used to say, "No Boundaries!" until Ford stole it). Maybe you can take a part of another's words that have become you. Perhaps you are the walrus. Nothing vulgar or obscene. Just things you want to say... on a wall.


I have a set of tools and media: ACRYLIC paint, OIL paint, PAINT MARKERS, oil PASTELS, pigma sensei ARCHIVAL pens. For the paints - both artist quality and house paint. I have brushes and a set of stamps, or you may use your fingers. I discourage the use of blood (or other bizarre media) and do not want crayon, regular pens, pencils, chalk, magic markers, etc.

A certain amount of overwriting is to be expected, but there should be a healthy respect for what others have already posted.

We could be in Iowa

The boy's name with the pomegranates was Hanson

Lionize, Patronize, why can't we Ovenize ?

The Images

The images are blocks of color - panels, tiles, elements - each 1 3/4" square. Each will be arranged and mounted onto the wooden canvas with nails, glue, or whatever. I am guessing we will need about 96 to 120 of these to fill the canvas.

2 things about these pieces:

1. The size of each must be 1.75 inches square
2. Each piece must display a rustic radial symmetry (radial symmetry is something that looks similar when rotated around the center)

The examples above possess it to an acceptable degree. As you can see from some,  one way to achieve it is through pattern repetition of 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36... like objects, arranged in a square formation. Another example of radial symmetry is a snowflake.

They may be made of different substances: metal, glass, wood, ceramic - canvas covered or not. Above are some initial examples, employing different colors, different approaches and different media, including water colors on paper pulp (on a screen),  acrylic on canvas (on aluminum), house paints poured over objects (on plywood), oil pastels (on plywood). Thin or thick, but no more than 1" high. Avoid impermanent materials... common paper, cardboard, matt board and other pressed board materials.


Dates and Deadlines
The piece will be developed from now until June 15, 2011 and is targeted for completion (all pieces mounted) by the solstice - June 21, 2011. Images may be created at home or at your studio, at your convenience and dropped off when you see me or if necessary, may be mailed to me at 4021 LaFrance Rd. Lafayette Hill, PA. The toughest part is probably going to be gaining access to the canvas, to post your words. I will have the canvas at my studio but it will also be on the road (appearances and destinations to be determined)


The Fine Print
All submissions become property of the artist (me) and may be transferred or sold. You will be credited for your submission and to the extent possible, listed as a contributor - if the piece is exhibited. Submission does not guarantee that your piece will be used - but the fact is I want to use everything submitted. Factors that may prevent your piece from being included are: the piece is the wrong size, too many are submitted, it cannot be mounted, it seems radioactive or is alive, it is out of sync with the overall concept and other submissions, or for another reason not immediately obvious.

PIFA OPEN GALLERY NIGHT - A PHOTO ESSAY

For gallery nights and First Fridays, it is important to have a route mapped out. My start: The 1622 Chestnut gallery of the Art Institute of Philadelphia.

As I enter, I am blown away - not by the art, but by the food table. It included a surprise of Hennepin - a Belgian style ale from Ommegang brewery in Cooperstown NY. Knowing that it would be the best food table of the night, I was torn between staying put or continuing on my route. Since the art was, for the most part, less engaging, I evenutually moved on.

Some of the comments that follow may make it seem that I did not entirely enjoy the night. But nothing can be further from the truth. Art is about discovery, and for me, not knowing what you will find. Sometimes, I come away inspired; sometimes repulsed. But I always come away advanced in some way, with a sense of learning and a gratitude to those who create and share their work with me.

PS to Tetsugo: "ephemeral" is my word.

Next stop, the Print Center on Latimer. A sauvignon blanc I believe, but no food and no people. In fact, I had the gallery to myself, which meant I could spend all the time I wanted, getting depressed on the second floor - a gallery full of spiritually depressing photographs filled with elements of darkness, depravity, and criminal intent - if not behavior. 

Downstairs, the pictures were like, "What a lovely time we had at the party. Too bad you were not invited." - my title, my opinions. Wish I was there and not upstairs.

Housed in a beautiful building just off of Rittenhouse Square, is The Philadelphia Art Alliance. This picture of a few of the stained glass windows was taken from the landing between the first and second floors. 

The exhibit unfortunately, and in contrast to the windows, was a painful set of videos - hyper short cuts, caucophenous sounds - an in-your-face experience. As I was told when I discussed the work with the two girls at the reception desk, the artist wanted to shock the viewer. Oh really? 

PS - Shock is not hard to do. What's hard is to produce something beautiful.

When I entered the building, I was handed a drink ticket and directed to the bar in the back area. At the bar and seeing a selection of top shelf liquor, I asked, "how open is the bar tonight?". What came back at me was a silent stare and a glass of pinot griggio. So much for small talk. The old guy next to me, apparently not seeing how things went for me, tried to push the envelope by asking if he could get orange juice with his ticket. "Three dollars" was the reply he got.

Sycamore trees and walkers on Latimer street - between the...

Sande Webster Gallery (nice but not at all uplifting oil paintings of street scenes by R.L. Washington, along with photo-collages by Phil Stein, pre-poured cups of unidentified red wine, chips and soft pretzels with 2 mustards) and...

Twenty Two Gallery (Dale Levy, "Perception", white wine, generic swiss and cheddar cheeses)

As I tour, I also study. Not just the art, but also how the art is created, displayed, the choices made, the way things are hung and lit. The way the canvas is constructed and folded to the frame. I try to learn everything possible short of taking the art off the wall and performing a biopsy.

I liked Tetsugo's work and also the art as objects themselves. They were sleek and modern, and quality constructed with extra thick matte of plain texture, precisely cut - I never saw such sharp inside corners on a matting.

I enjoyed much of Tetsugo's work but the wine was a different tale indeed - a cheep, cloyingly sweet chardonney. In lieu of someone to hand it too, or a trash can to put it in, I gave it back. Sad.

Violators will be towed.


Not their vehicles, the violators themselves will be towed! Unless of course, the sign places the blame of the violation ON the vehicle - which would assume it was a very evolved vehicle - and in which case, it should not just be towed, but for the safety of others, probably destroyed.

A spontaneous photo of bricks along Pine street. Is it art?

So here is where all the people are...

(people not pictured)

Paris in the Kimmel Center. A sort of ground zero for PIFA. Zee eiffel tower was pretty cool, but the nice surprise was seeing zee trains and planes tracking along overhead.

Kaitlin is a sophomore art student, attending University of the Arts on Broad street.

I met Kaitlin while wandering around the 4th floor of the building after departing an obnoxiously crowded elevator. I didn't know where I was going anyway, so I just got off at the first stop. The lack of direction may have partly been a result of many glasses of wine by this point, but I can tell you from experience that this place is traditionally ill-labeled. There was an art exhibit here somewhere, but Kaitlin couldn't help me either.

Instead, she was happy to explain a little about her own art project - an acrylic ant farm chair. A chair that you can presumably sit on.

I'm not making this up, but I would really like to see how it turns out.

Still wandering around the University of the Arts building, I found these light boxes on the wall.  I think this proves it is an art school.

Next stop, The Philadelphia Sketch Club on Camac street. Appropriately, I found a sketch in progress.

Not one of my favorite galleries and I was wearing out, so I didn't stay long.

Perhaps one stop too many was the A x D gallery on 10th. A collection of pop-art sort of works, or more to the point, pun-art. You know, find the hidden message in a sign... like within "duncin donuts" you can make "in  o  ut" into a work of art. Or an equally clever manipulation of text and color, controverting the word "visa" into "avis". Of course, none of this works as art unless the price tag has 4 or 5 figures (before the decimal).

I thought this stuff died when CBGB's closed. Maybe not. I mean, everything is circular. Right?

The artist was lecturing with a slide show. He was also between me and the beer, which did not endear him to me either. While I was there, a question came from the very engaged audience, "How did you get these pictures?". "With Fuji film" was his answer. 

That was really what he said. 

I thought for a second I was in a TV commercial. And now, in hindsight, maybe the whole slide show - mesmerized audience - canned questions and pop entertainment answers, WAS the art. Some kind of live performance, and I was missing it. I was the oblivious one. The whole thing was a statement about the trite characterure that life has become. And here I was, taking it seriously and being repulsed !

I searched for a reprise. Something to restabilize my senses. A visit to an old friend...

The Bridgette Mayer gallery on Walnut street.

It was not on the list, but it has always been, and I hoped that maybe it just didn't meet the deadline for printing. 

As this picture, taken through the front window shows, nothing was happening tonight.

Or was it?