Recently, I hastily wrote about my experience

with the Misosula Art Museum and the process and aftermath of submitting to their 2010 art auction.  My intention in writing was to criticize the coolness with which the museum notifies hopeful artists who are not chosen for the auction.  I should have stated that in a paragraph and called it good.

Instead, I allowed my disapointment at not being chosen to flavor my words, and for that I am sorry.

I know that the jury labored and deliberated passionately over the many submissions and it could be, had I been on the jury, that I would have made the same decisions that they did. Without having been there, I won’t know until February when the acution happens.

And I’m looking forward to it.

Missoula Art Museum serves the public by engaging audiences and artists in the exploration of contemporary art relevant to the community, state and region.

- Adopted, Board of Directors, December 2008

The Missoula Art Museum is located at 335 North Pattee, Missoula, MT 59802 and can be reached at 406.728.0447

http://www.missoulaartmuseum.org

Walking Towards The Man Near Adapt & 830

All day we had driven in the heat. The driver’s side window will not roll down.

We crawled through the darkness in line, passing the frybread taco stands in Gerlach, NV. inching along. We started in line around 12:50AM and arrived finally at the gates around 5AM. I was exhausted. I got out of the car, joyfully hugged the greeter who welcomed me home, and deliriously rang the bell for Burn virgins. We snaked through the brightly almost-full-moon-lit playa to the camp @ Cock-N-Waffle @ 7:45 and Adapt. We parked and were greeted by Rooster. I was glad to be out of the car. The Ooonst music was going full force over at Tetris, and all I wanted to do was pee and sleep.

Roos showed us around in the dark and got us situated. I needed to pee. I knew logically how the city is layed out, but realistically, never having been there, delirious from sleeplessness, needing to have one of my basic needs met, I couldn’t put it together. I needed to pee. Telling me how the city is layed out was not helpful, just get me to a Port-a-Pot. I crumbled. Black Rock City had already broken me and I wasn’t even in the gates for an hour. I collapsed into Joyce’s arms and sobbed like a baby from exhaustion & anxiety.

I slept.

I slept well.

I slept well considering the barrage of thumping bass coming from the camp behind us over @ Tetris.

And I awoke and we set up the shower. We worked all day in the hot sun and we set up the shower and the graywater evaporation system.  And I was a part of this community.  Me, an outsider, my first Burn, and I’m a part of it. This was Joyce’s 7th Burn. It’s the first full day & I’m trying to figure it out & I fell into the work that needed to be done to make our camp run smoothly.

The Cock-N-Waffle is a hospitality camp.  We serve waffles for breakfast to anyone who drops by.

We provide massages and fresh fruit and music and love to all who enter our camp. And we have a bus.  Oh, yes, we have a bus.  The Ghetto Gypsy.  The bus was lovingly worked on by many members of the Cock-N-Waffle over the course of the entire year, and featured original artwork on the ceiling in panels, done by many local Missoula artists.  The outside of the bus featured some beautiful graffiti done by a local graffiti hero, Echo.  But the centerpoint was the sound system and the lightboard.

Changing the Lightboard on the Ghetto Gypsy

The lightboard originally was conceived as a streaming LED system

that could be controlled by a computer.  Unfortunately, time and money did not allow for this to happen, so we were limited to eight characters that needed to be changed out by hand.  The most family-friendly thing we posted on the board was LOVELUST, and it could be seen for miles on the playa at night.  I’ll let you scour the interwebs for other, more colorful postings.

Over the course of the next 6 days, I would see and experience things of beauty that I cannot express and do them justice. The art cars! The Man! The Temple! (Oh, my God, the Temple.) The art, the creativity. And the city!

The things I saw and experienced were unbelievable.

Of course, there was The Man himself, whose burning was a wild party in great contrast to the reverent burning of the Temple the following night.  From the simplicity of the Cubitron to the contemplative and transformative time spent at Memortrees, I was glad that I opted to, for the most part, leave my camera tucked away from the dust and participate. I climbed a tree, I played putter golf. I ate great food.  I rode my bike. I learned how to adapt, how to dance again & how to let go of expectations. Experience. Be here now.

The playa was a huge art playground.

We tromped up the huge slide called The Wedge, laughing and giggling in our free-fall. We looked out over the lights of the city in a spinning frenzy on The Teeter Totter of Death, we had quiet moments at the top of a mobile Ferris wheel and watched dramatic sunrises in the deep playa. We mourned lost loved ones at the Temple and fire walked through the remaining embers and flames together after the Man burned.

And there was no commerce, save buying ice. If someone did not have enough food or water, someone else would provide for him without question. The atmosphere of love and altruism was ever-present, and I realized that one of my challenges is to bring that spirit back out into the “real” world.  I try to be cognizant of this, and often, I fail. But without failure, there is no growth, and no chance to learn. So I learn. Every day, I learn.

A huge part of the experience was, of course, The Cock-N-Wafflers.

They were amazing – all of them. Each in their own way, they all contributed to the camp and everyone made me feel welcome. They we all took care of each other, shared stories, laughs, food, and formed lifelong friendships. Sure, there were stresses, and we overcame them together. Aboo.

Joyce 

was the reason I was out on the playa in the first place. She helped me adapt to my new surroundings with understanding and tenderness.  We learned how to better communicate with each other, how to give each other space, and how to better trust one another. We stayed up all night exploring the playa together, watched the sunrise, slept till noon, fell in love again and again, and grew together as a couple and as individuals. We explored with wide-eyed curiosity and artistic hunger.  We worked hard to complete the graywater system*, with help from Noel, before arriving in BRC, and stood it up in what I felt was record time.

*(And it worked like a charm. There were about 30 of us in the camp. We had showers almost every day, washing dishes twice a day, and only 10 gallons of un-evaporated water on the final day, which we had sucked out by the port-a-potty guys.)

And the art! There was so much of it.

And all of it free to be experienced and viewed by all. It really got m thinking about the directions I want to take my art – both in what I make, and in how it is consumed. Should I sell it? Should I donate it for sale to worthy causes? Should I give it away? Can I approach my art with a combination of these ideas?   These are questions that I am still asking myself, and still answering. I, and my art, is in an evolutionary process, one that will never end, and one that excites me like I’ve not been excited about my art for a long time.

Collected photos of Burning Man – 2009 – Evolution – 1 and 2

Play, Frolic, Laugh

Many artists I respect in Missoula encouraged me this year

to submit work for consideration to be included in The Yellowstone Art Museum’s art auction.  The YAM is in Billings, and I have visited it before.  It is a wonderful museum.

The submission process was a little more hands-on than the MAM’s, as I had to actually burn a CD of the works I intended to submit, put them in an envelope and mail them off.  This probably cost me about $2 in materials/postage and about an hour of my time, compared to the $5 and three hours of my time it took to submit  to the MAM’s art auction using their online process.

Not knowing anyone in Billings or at the YAM, I had low expectations for acceptance.  I elected to submit the very first piece I did in the newest incarnation of The Leaving and the Left series, as well as the very last piece I did in the series.

I was not surprised when I received my self-addressed stamped envelope with the Billings postmark in the mail last week.  I opened it with hopeful hands. Admittedly, I was disappointed to not have been chosen, but the way in which the news was delivered softened the blow, made me feel appreciated and made me want to apply again next year.

As you’ll see, their letter comes across as heartfelt, genuine and honest. (Even signed with real ink!) They included complimentary passes for admission to the museum, good for a year. Letter after the jump.

Granted, the MAM does not charge admission to the museum, which is amazing and very much appreciated by the Missoula community. How could they have compensated rejected artists for their time and effort? A ticket for a free glass of wine at one of their events? (No, wine/beer/liquor are not free at the MAM, unless you are a member, and even then, only the first one is free.) An invitation/pass to be included in a “special event” that may be scheduled some time in the future? Something else? I don’t know.

What I do know is that the Yellowstone Art Museum gets it right.  Thank you, YAM.

My Heaven Sent Lover

With All My Heart

Originally uploaded by love not fear

Recently, I submitted this piece and this piece to the Missoula Art Museum’s art auction.

I’m not a very well known artist among “serious” art collectors in Missoula. I don’t expect my name will draw huge dollars in an auction. But, I think the work is good work, so, I submitted it. I paid the entrance fee, I spent several hours with the online entrance process.

I like a lot of the work the museum brings to Missoula, and I want to support the organization. I opted to donate 100% of the proceeds of the sale of my work to the museum, should my work be chosen for inclusion in the auction & then sell.

So, let’s say I got accepted. Let’s say the work sold for $500. Not unreasonable, I’ve sold work for more before, but these pieces are going for between $300- $500.

OK. So let’s say some other, more well-known artist gets his work accepted. His piece sells for $1,000. But he opts to donate only 50% of the proceeds of the sale to the museum.

Isn’t $500 five hundred bucks, no matter who it’s from?

Right.

Still, I didn’t expect to get in, because I know that “names” sell more than “art” sometimes, and I don’t have a “name” in the Missoula Art Scene.

All of that said, it was with great surprise that I read the form rejection letter, sent by email, without so much as a subject line. Seriously. No subject line.

And the letter didn’t tell me anything I could not discern from the artist call website. Was my quoted price too much? Too little? What can you specifically point to, John, that prevents the MAM from accepting my submission?

The snobbery of the Missoula Art Museum is sickening.

Here’s the letter:

Dear Marc,

Thank you for submitting to the Missoula Art Museum’s 38th Benefit Art Auction. Regretfully, your work was not accepted. The 2010 art auction will be held at MAM. While we are excited to present our annual fundraiser in our home, we cannot accommodate the same volume of guest as in the past. Due to this change we scaled back the number of art works accepted. This year was extremely competitive; the MAM Auction Jury reviewed over 200 works and selected 56 pieces for the live auction. We are humbled by the outpouring of support from artists such as yourself, and hope that the difficult choices that the jury made do not discourage you from supporting us in the future.

The Jury took into consideration a variety of factors in selecting art works including value of work, number of works required for auction, and variety of media. Every year has its own unique set of circumstances and we hope you will consider submitting again to this important fundraiser.

The auction exhibition is open from January 13 – February 25, 2009 with the Artini Auction on February 18 and the Gala Auction on February 27. Additionally, all auction works will be available online at www.missoulaartmuseum.org. We hope you will join us for these festivities! Once again, thank you for your submission, Marc.

On Behalf of the MAM staff and Board of Directors,

John Calsbeek
MAM Assistant Curator & Preparator
Auction Committee Co-Chair

Be With You

Every Year, Home Resource Celebrates Art and Community at their Spontaneous Construction Event

…and this year was no different.  The pieces created on the day of SponCon 2009 were as diverse as those who created them.  Beautiful coffeetables, chicken coops, a couple of kaleidoscopes, a working Dobro and a waterfall powered composter just to name a few.  As in years past, many local artists (including me!) donated works to Home Resource for inclusion in a silent auction.

This year, the auctions run a little differently.  The silent auction is running online through the 15th, and will culminate at the live auction Friday, October 15 at The Elks Lodge here in Missoula. All of the silent auction items will be up for bid, as well as the best of the best in the live auction featuring the pieces created the day of Spon Con.

Spon Con is a celebration of art and community that benefits the non-profit Home Resource, a building reuse and recycling center in Missoula, Montana. I volunteer there every year and every year there are lots of surprises.  This year one of the surprises happened after the event itself, and that is the live auction.

Head over to the Home Resource site to view all of the items in the silent auction and begin bidding.

BIDDING INSTRUCTIONS
Please bid by emailing abe@homeresource.org. Please submit your bid in the following format:
a) Title of Piece
b) Your bid amount
c) Bidder number

FINAL BIDDING WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE SPONCON AUCTION AND AWARDS GALA, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16TH, AT THE ELKS LODGE. Mayor John Engen is gonna auctioneer/MC, and we’ll have live music by Cash for Junkers! Not only is it gonna be a super fun party, but it’s the only way to guarantee that you’ll get the final bid! Tickets to the auction are free to all contest participants and volunteers, and for sale to the general public for $10 in advance (available at Home Resource), and $15 at the door. Hope to see you there!

This year I donated three pieces to the silent auction.  All three pieces are from my recent series The Leaving and the Left.  The photos on the site are not very detailed.  You can see which pieces I donated to the auction below, (and above) and if you’re interested, clicking them will take you to the Flickr site where you can view more from The Leaving and the Left series.

The pieces I have sold from The Leaving and the Left series have been going for upwards of $300.  The opening bid on two of the pieces in the Spon Con auction is $100, and one is $200.  The entire proceeds of the sale of the art go to Home Resource, so get clicking!

Magic Love

Let Yourself be Fooled by Love

Looking forward to seeing you at the auction on Friday @ the Elk’s Lodge.  Happy bidding!

Back in May, I was paralyzed in fear about my next creative endeavor. I was so pleased with the first iteration of The Leaving and the Left – A Celebration of Love and Loss, that I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to make anything else as good as that collection. I was avoiding the studio, avoiding thinking about it, avoiding doing any work on any of the backend stuff.

Then, I got a call from Misty, a journalism student who had seen my show back in February and liked it. She wanted to do a documentary on me and the philosophy of the project. She wanted to film me creating a piece start to finish.

O. my. God.

I told her I would do it.

And that forced me back into the studio.

And I did it.

I was working with different materials. Similar materials, but different than the ones I used in the first series of this project. There was a learning curve.

And I pulled it off. I got in there and created. I took new photographs of a new (gorgeous) model and played around with cutting those up and collaging those in a fashion. I figured out how to display the work that uses flimsy metal as its canvas, and cranked out nine new pieces in a little over three months.

It was highly rewarding, very exhausting and truly cleansing for me and for the people who contributed letters to the project. The resulting show, The Leaving and the Left – Teardrop on the Fire, opened August 7th.

And now I think that I’m finished with it. I don’t know. I said that if the donated love letters and post breakup emails didn’t come in, the project would die. And the letters and emails aren’t really coming in. I’ve tried a donation center at the show, I’ve tried Craigslist postings, I’ve Facebooked it and Twittered about it trying to solicit letters for the project. All failed.

So I think it’s over. I really enjoy working in this medium, and I want to continue in this vein, but I don’t know what direction to take it. There are still some behind the scenes things I’d like to accomplish with this project, and there are other (more glorious) reasons that I may abandon it.

People who want to see me continuing on with this project, though, need to submit some letters. Send yours, or tell your friends to submit theirs. Spread the word.

If you haven’t seen the new show, and you live in Missoula, you only have three more days to check it out. It’s at Noteworthy* Paper&Press (near The Wilma, on Higgins) until Thursday afternoon.

The Leaving and the Left – Teardrop on the Fire

Opening Exhibition 08.07.09 • Noteworthy* Paper&Press

For a while I have been thinking about giving away my art. Not because the art I make is not valuable, because it is. I want to give it away because I cannot put a price on it. I was thinking about the “open source” model of software development. Many of the software applications I use every day are developed to be given away or used for free: Firefox, Gmail, Open Office.

Musicians, too, are exploring this new model of distribution. Issa (formerly Jane Sieberry) uses a ““self-determined pricing” system,Radiohead experimented with the pay-what-you-will economy, and NIN has been giving away his stuff for a while now (his new album is the best non-instrumental NIN since The Downward Spiral.)

Why not open source art, then? Giving away my art raises many questions. Does the art I sell become less valuable than the art I give away, merely because I put a price tag on it? Does the art I have previously sold become less valuable? There are more questions, but those are two that came up for me, and I would argue that the answer to both questions is no.

I’ve written before about how to price artwork, but I wanted to bypass all of it and get straight to the good stuff: bringing people joy and beauty. So I load up the car and head downtown to set up in the invisibleAlley. When I arrived, I had 4 framed photos, 7 framed collage, 5 mixed media pieces from the 404 NOT HERE & REBOOT_ series, and a rack of about 30 matted artworks of various kinds that were enclosed in Mylar bags.

As with previous times I’ve done art in the alley,I hadn’t done any formal advertising, no email blast, no SMS blast, nothing really. Just word of mouth and, this time, a little bit of Tweeting and Facebooking.

I started with the #freeartmissoula hashtag, but quickly forgot what hashtag I’d decided upon, and switched back and forth between that and #missoulafreeart. @nShontz even stopped by for a visit with his wife & son. (His son had a blast racing his toy car through the alley, smashing into the artwork. Very fun.) Oh, right, then Twitter goes down for scheduled maintenance.

The evening itself was so much fun. People’s responses were as varied as the people themselves. The biggest initial reaction was one of surprise and wanting to know WHY? The biggest answer is that I want people to enjoy my art. I also want to make room for the new art that I am creating, and instead of destroying or throwing away the old stuff, I thought I’d give it to folks who could appreciate it.

Some folks said that they felt guilty taking artwork from me, but took it anyway. Some wanted to donate cash. Some wanted to trade for other artwork, while others offered to buy me dinner, or breakfast, or a beer. One woman in particular couldn’t believe I was giving it away for free and walked right past the alley. Then, about 30 minutes later, she stopped back, chose a piece and ran off. She turned back long enough to say, “I’ve never stolen anything before!” She seemed pretty pleased, being able to “steal” something without having to face any unpleasant consequences.

After people’s surprise wore off, they were genuinely enjoying themselves. People loved the art and had a good time deciding what they would take home with them. I made some new friends and had a blast watching everyone smiling and laughing in the cool of an early summer evening in the best gallery in town.

The evening was about gifting, about appropriating public space, about making art accessible to everyone, exciting and affordable. I won’t give away all of my artwork, but I’m thinking about matting up some of the other stuff I have lying around and doing another free art show in July.