feather2pixels

If I had lots of money that I could spend on myself, one of my top priorities would definitely be to collect work made by colleague artists I know and admire.  I think this is a great idea because in the somewhat selfish process of amassing a collection of expensive goods, this pursuit would make me appear more altruistic and supportive to my friends.

Of course I do have a little money I can selfishly spend on myself  and recently CELLspace welder-in-chief Cory Best made me an offer that I couldn’t refuse: a very good price for one of his ruggedly elegant/elegantly rugged geometric steel sculptures.

It wouldn’t be cheap, so I took a few days to rationalize.  Suddenly the offer hit me as monumentally worth it.  Not only is this thing beautiful and going to last at least a thousand years and probably even longer than that, but I simultaneously get to help the most legitimate blacksmith I know pay his bills and continue welding.  From either the aesthetic or the moral perspective, why the hell am I spending money on anything else?

(By the way, I think of Cory’s abilities as a true blacksmith not just in terms of shaping metal but also in always having a beer to spare.   Thanks for everything, dude.)

Me, Cory, and the Sculpture in the CELL metal shop.

The surface takes on many moods in direct light.

clicl to enlarge!

Awesome, Tamar.

Friends, family, Nigerian spam robots:  it is to you, my scarce and scattered and readership that I now make a confession.  While I have been busy in these pages attempting to seduce you with anodyne images of Northern California that you may or may not have noted in passing , I have also been secretly at work planning something big.

Let me first beg you to please not feel betrayed by the belated nature of this revelation, for it was only in the most pressing interests of self-respect that I kept this matter quiet even to you, my most devoted online readership.  (I hope you know who you are.)

What the hell am I talking about, you ask as usual?

Well, basically I recently came across my big chance in the art world.  This felt like the chance I have been waiting for, I think.  It all had something to do with a city fence, a big-time call for temporary art, and the changing Mission Bay community of San Francisco. Now not only have I been at work for the last four years doing things such as creating art about the changing Mission Bay community entitled Temporary Spaces, but I also took the time to put together and submit a bulletproof proposal for what I think is a truly exciting project.  This vague recap probably doesn’t explain anything, but I hope it at least it coveys a few good reasons why even up till Friday I felt enthusiastic and confident regarding this opportunity.

'Pieces are designed some months for passers-by to remove part of and take home. Other months, this area will be designed to contribute to:' not a popular idea.

I rallied my people, I did my absolute best, and without a doubt I put my strongest foot forward.  That felt great.  I am glad I did it.  It moved me forward.  Forward is my favorite direction.

Anyway, last Friday was supposed to be the big day and it turns out that the opportunity is not to be.

The bad part is that in the end my best wasn’t good enough.

Yeah… that part really sucks.

Oh well.

I’ll probably be over it after this weekend or this month or something.

I really don’t want to sound melodramatic or anything.  There are incredible things going on in the world right now affecting the lives of millions and this thing was only about me.  But as  inconsequential and selfish as it ultimately was, I guess I really wanted this particular thing.  Even though there will be other things this perfect. Some time in the future. Maybe.

Anyway, yes: I know this is how things go.  I just thought I should mention it here, since this is my art archive-website-thing.  Or something.  Immense thanks to my four invaluable advisers: Erin, Z-mom, Montreal, and Julia H.

This was really good.

Valentine Day Feast:
2 racks of ribs
1 chicken
2 lbs brisket
5 lbs of sides
8 pieces of cornbread
3 pitchers of beer

(Also–The look of this picture reminds me of the cover art to the Smashing Pumpkins “1979” single)

Recent photobooth activity:

Guess who stopped by the screen printing studio the other night?  None other than nvSurly/Lonwell Alvier/Sir Lee himself.  The ever-dutiful Trent Reznor scholar since birth, Lonwell had just completed his new master Nine Inch Nails mix and the only thing standing in the way of shipping them off to the far corners of the California–Philly–New York City Corridor was packaging.

Enter the Slushmonger.

I would like to think that I helped motivate our hero towards completion of this much anticipated project, but just as the tides need not the assistance of man in washing up the ocean’s secrets so Lonwell needs no help from any one in making his voice heard.  I might say, though, that he did make this as difficult as possible, designing a multi-color square pattern that required the most precise of registrations–one false move and the spacing between red and black would read as monumentally screwed.

Alas, once again we discovered success together and everything turned out great.  Also, I must say that Mr. Reznor’s work on “The Social Network” soundtrack is exactly what I would expect from him in the year 2010, and I say that not to suggest that it sounds predictable but rather to offer it as the satisfying answer to the question of what would Nine Inch Nails sound like when Trent Reznor was fifty-one years old.  I have been enjoying it. (From what I could tell, the most important answer the film provides is that the social networking website is the most monumental thing to be invented by mankind since the the Polio vaccine).

Silian Rail Poster:

I thought a productive way to kick off the July printing season would be to crank out a series of starkly radiant posters for my favorite Bay Area boy-girl post post-rock experience, Silian Rail. Time was of the essence as our heroes were embarking on a west coast tour in a matter of days, and the project proved to be a much bigger pain in the ass than anticipated. This was mainly due to incompetence on my part.

The image was inspired by a recent camping trip to Angel Island with Christina, Marella, and EB (I can’t believe I have never done that before).   I had a feeling that the band would be in to a subdued natural scene that invoked their native Oakland.  That led to this Bay Bridge-Victorian-moon rise trifecta.  The images were printed on 30 x 22 Canson stock in a variety of colors:

(Click to enlarge)

Here’s some details.  The bridge:

The window:

The moon:

Of course I accidentally produced all the exposure films one inch too long for the paper. This near fatal mistake required some eleventh hour jerry-rigging in order for the band name to come through, which it barely did in the end. Luckily there was room for me to tape the text in the bottom corner of the film. Here’s what I am talking about.

And here’s some of the other (slightly too long for the paper) films:
Layer 1:

Layer 2:

And that’s probably more than anyone ever needed to know about the Silian Rail posters. Eric and Robin hit the road and the posters were on sale up and down the continent for an incredibly affordable five dollars. A limited edition of 45 or something.

So instead, I’ll leave you with my five favorite photographs from this weekend.

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Earlier this week, the 24th Street Project was finally ready to be installed at the new Local Mission Eatery. So I bought a 6 pack, rallied some friends, and we spent six hours fastening a grid of 350 wood tiles to six enormous slabs of MDX.  Three days later the industrial grade glue still hasn’t come of our hands, but I have a warm feeling from knowing how dedicated my friends are in my time of need.

Thanks to:

• Jim
• Erin
• To-Shi-O
• Cat
• Yaron (owner of Local Mission Eatery)
• Laser

And now you shall witness the proceedings on this third rate video I made.  (Pay attention to the second part of the time lapse and you can see the inimitable Phil–proprietor of the legendary Philz coffee shop two doors down–look on with questionable approval)

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You know how Joe is a editor for television in New York?  Well from time to time he surprises his friends with little easter eggs that we would have to be watching the Home and Garden Channel very attentively to notice.  Luckily he occasionally passes them on and for my own selfish reasons, this is my favorite one yet.  If  you are really too bored with life to be reading this lousy website, activate the video.  You will probably see where this is going very quickly but start paying attention at the 13 second mark.

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Last week, a few people held a belated surprise birthday party for To-Shi-O, who is my beloved roommate of lo these last three-and-a-half-plus years. By complete coincidence I also happen to be To-Shi-O’s beloved roommate of lo these last three-and-a-half-plus years and so I was invited. To the best of our combined ability we dressed in costume as Him, transcribed His paper crane tattoo upon our forearms, and greeted Him in the way of his own tongue, thus consummating the cult of To-Shi-O. And the good thing about belated surprise birthday parties is that they are all the more unexpected.

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People sometimes tell me that Nowell and I are looking more alike these days.

Is that what happens to friends in older age?  And if so, what does it mean that Ben and Joe sent me the exact same package last week?

Since the beginning of the fall I’ve been bringing food to work.  I have never been able to do this before and I have no explanation as to why the O.C.D. is taking hold so late in life.  But five days a week this has been my lunch:

So it was that last week was a special treat.  I am not gonna gloat, but I’m coming off an unbelievable five days of eating with my friends. The undeniable highlight was Brothers restaurant, in the Korean BBQ district of San Francisco.  We got the meal for four, which yielded 38 plates, 3 pounds of meat and 1 hot-coal grill and the recommended Korean daily serving of approximately twenty thousand grams of sodium.