Archive for the ‘Life’ CategoryWAR IS PEACE Happy Independence Day
Joe Nickel wrote a great article today in The Missoulian about the state of the arts in Missoula. Joe points out that a recent survey of data released by the Natioanl Endowment for the Arts reported that Missoula ranks 44th in the nation in terms of the percentage of local workers who make their living through the arts”. “Artists in the Workforce 1990-2005″ is a 150-page survey of data compiled from census records. A portion of the article was reproduced over at Talk Missoula, and it ended with a question: What are the advantages and challenges of being an artist in Missoula? Name one project, resource or service that could be developed to promote and support Missoula’s professional artists, musicians and writers. The problem with the question is the word “professional”. There are many artists here in Missoula who cannot make a living at what they do here, not because they are not talented artists or they don’t produce a good body of work, but because their contemporary art is too edgy or risky for Missoula and the people who visit here. Missoula is on the cusp of coming into its own as a cultural destination for travelers across the world. One thing many of those travelers want when they think of visual arts is western themed or “outdoor” art. Because of that, much of the visual art produced by professional artists in Missoula is reflective of that need. Thinking of Missoula *only* in terms of this type of art is doing a disservice to the many very talented contemporary artists who live and work in this city, producing a huge body of work that might sell for thousands of dollars in a more urban city like Chicago, New York or Los Angeles, but here, if they sell at all, it’s for a pittance. And that is if the work is even seen. A resource I would like to see is a dedicated space *downtown* that includes a gallery and affordable studios for working artists. Missoula is lucky to have the Ceretana, and more recently, the Zootown Arts Community Center on the North side. Both of these facilities are beautiful and offer many opportunities for both artists and the Missoula community. I would like to see something similar downtown. A place for artists to show that is not a coffehouse, a restaurant, a computer store, a boutique. Somewhere that is for art and art alone, and a place for lesser known 8local* artists to display. I am not taking away from the Missoula Art Museum and what they have to offer our community. I’m suggesting something more, something different. Something that could help artists who *don’t* make a living as an artist work towards that goal by giving them the same treatment a professional artist might get. To view the full results of the NEA survey, “Artists in the Workforce 1990-2005,” visit www.NEA.gov and click on “News.” When I arrived in their little office in downtown Missoula, I was greeted with warm smiles. S. was pretty excited to have me deliver the piece, and I was pretty excited to be able to sign it in her presence, help her decide where it should hang, and finally, hang it on her office wall. The women there provided me with a small metal hammer which was painted in “feminine” colors and had flowers on it. They got a kick out of it when I drove the nail using the provided hammer. The piece looks great in her office, and I meant to photograph it, but was caught up in the contagious excitement of the women as they admired the piece. We talked about it for a while, before easing into friendly talk comparing office humor and other daily life conversations. After it had been hung, E. commented that the wall looked a little lonely, that maybe S. needs more of my pieces to compliment the existing one. S. had already mentioned the possibility of wanting another piece, and I was glad to encourage her, picking up a dry erase marker and drawing on the whiteboard how the wall might look with the addition of two complimentary pieces. As I left the office, I was remembering the first time I had completed a similar project. I remember how personally involved in it I was. This time was different. It was less about the emotion, and more about presenting the work in such a way that the emotion came through in a humorous way. I re-learned some of the things I learned the first time around, namely that vellum applied with spray adhesive is much better than self-adhering vellum. This version of the project was much more coherent, all of the pieces being almost of uniform size, all being a uniform shape. I enjoyed using two different models for the photographs as well. And the distance and time between me and the models involved made creating the project more enjoyable. Yeah, I was stressed about finishing it on time, but I enjoyed the entire process more and was more deliberate in the way that I went about it. Finishing the show felt good, and it generated a lot of brainstorming on my part for subsequent shows I’ll be doing. Brainstorming around concepts of content, but also around concepts of logistics about how I want to pull off the ideas themselves. Right now work has got me pretty busy. Working three jobs currently. I’m tying to do something creative every day, and am constantly thinking about the next project, when i can start it. In the meantime, I’m learning how to use a new camera. I’ll be posting some of those photographs here as time allows. The show was a smashing success. About 80 people came through. We had a great spread of food from Worden’s. Folks dug it. Especially software developers. Everyone was laughing at the error messages and actually READING them, which was awesome. The big coup is that people walking by on the street can see the show, and I hope I’m pushing the boundaries of what’s acceptable in Missoula. Nowhere else in town can beautiful nude art be seen. Oh, and I did sell a piece. A group of three women rolled through, two of which own a software startup in town. Two of the women bought a piece for their friend who was there for her birthday. She plans to hang it in her office. The show will be up for the rest of the month. Anyone in the Missoula area who didn’t make it to the opening — stop by and check it out. Thanks to all who made this possible: Bridgemaxx, Computer Central, Lucas, for the use of his truck, Patty, over at The Art Hang Up for the glass, Home Resource for the cabinet doors upon which the photos were mounted, and everyone who supported me as I worked like crazy to get this show together. You know who you are. I am eternally grateful to all of you. Thanks! Cut all of the glass. Have assembled most of them, but will have to take apart and re-do about 6 of them because the vellum buckled. I was using adhesive-backed vellum that I had forgotten is susceptible to humidity. Lesson learned. Have to re-print error messages and photos, then use spray adhesive to re-attach. Need to buy more paint to finish the last piece.
Trevor and Charlie: How did you come to have a show in the gallery? Last month, I set up a DIY art show in the alley next to The Catalyst. A fellow artist, Gretel Stoudt, had an opening exhibition inside The Catalyst. I noticed an unusual amount of high school students milling about, some of them with clipboards and notebooks in hand, heading into The Catalyst. I realized that it was an art class field trip to First Friday Gallery Walk. Many of them stopped by the alley to admire my work. Two of them asked if they could have one of my cards and contact me later for an interview. I gave them a card, and last week they got ahold of me with an email interview. They asked some good questions, and I tried to answer them as best as I could. But I did so on the condition that they also submit to a similar interview. They agreed. Here is the interview I did with them. I chose my question to mirror the questions they asked me. Tune in tomorrow to read the interview they did with me.  Originally uploaded by love not fear INTERVIEW WITH CHARLIE PRITCHARD AND TREVOR DIEHL Marc: Where is your favorite place to see art in Missoula? Charlie: I like to see art in public places like parks, street corners, and alleys I think its better than a gallery because all kinds of people will see it not just people that like a certain type of art. Trevor: Sometimes the Art Museum and random restaurants like Taco del Sol and Bernice’s Bakery. Marc: Where is your favorite place to find art online? Charlie: Probably www.artnet.com Trevor: Banky’s website and now trying to find art that’s from the Cannes Festival. Marc: Who are your top 3 favorite Missoula artists? Charlie: Marc Moss, Andrea Brew, Dennis Sloan. Trevor: I’m a horrible person for this but I literally don’t even know three. Marc: Who are your top 3 well known national/international artists (dead or alive)? Charlie: Basquiat, Banksy, Keith Herring. Trevor: Banksy, Jean-Michael Basquiat, Jasper Johns. Marc: What is your favorite kind of art to view and why? Charlie: I really like graffiti art because I think it makes the place it’s at unique and original Trevor: Impressionism and Graffiti. Probably because I’m trying hard right now to understand and create art like that. Marc: What is your favorite kind of art to make and why? Charlie: I also like to make street art for a couple of reasons, first is that it can be seen by people who love and hate it and second is that it requires alot less drawing (Something that I’m not very good at). I also am trying to make music too. Trevor: Graffiti stencil art because…the culture around it and everything makes it interesting to me. If doodling in class counts as art (which I’m guessing it does) thats my second favorite kind to make. Marc: If you were going to have an art show in Missoula and could show anywhere, where would you want to show and why? Charlie: Good question, I’d want to have an art show under the Higgins Bridge, and I guess because it would be just a fun place to have my art. Trevor: Maybe in the Wilma theater or on top of a building or something, Marc: What is your favorite thing to eat @ Taco del Sol? Charlie: Oh, this is an easy one, 12″ Fish Supreme with refried beans, medium sauce, and a Jumex nectar to drink. Trevor: Easy. 12 inch fish supreme w/ mild sauce Marc: Have you ever publicly displayed your artwork/poetry/fiction? If so, where? Charlie: No, but maybe sometime in the future. Trevor: Only within the walls of Loyola Sacred Heart. Marc: What is your favorite thing about summer? Charlie: Not being in school and being able to just hang out downtown. Trevor: All of the free time and riding my bike everywhere. Marc: What inspires you when you create art? Charlie: I get inspired by Music. Trevor: Weird things that I see in town and things my friends and family do. Marc: What is your favorite thing about high school? Charlie: Well, to be honest it’s probably graduation now. Trevor: Besides all the homework…not alot…I guess my friends. Marc: What do you think about our current president? Charlie: I think he is the most inept president this country has ever had and will ever have. I’d go on but I’d end up getting a migraine thinking of all the problems he created in the world. Trevor: I think he has sprung the US into a downward spiral that will eventually lead to the destruction of the middle class. I don’t like him. Marc: If you could vote, Trevor, for whom would you vote to be President of the United States in the upcoming election? Charlie — are you registered, if not, why not, and for whom will you vote? Charlie: Yes I am registered and I am going to vote for Obama in the primary and general election when he’s the nominee. Trevor: I’m voting for Obama…or Ron Paul.
From the New York Times article: Building on the legacies of Marcel Duchamp, Kurt Schwitters, Joseph Cornell and others, he thereby helped to obscure the lines between painting and sculpture, painting and photography, photography and printmaking, sculpture and photography, sculpture and dance, sculpture and technology, technology and performance art — not to mention between art and life. GET / LOVE/1.1 Host: Heart User-Agent: Future Female/5.0 (Conduit; L; XX Chromosome OS Life Mach-XY; fr; rv:1.8) Gecko/20051111 Firefox/1.5 Accept: touch/love,application/love,application/touch+trust,text/html;q=0.9,text/plain;q=0.8,image/png,*/*;q=0.5 Accept-Language: fr,fr-fr;q=0.8,en-us;q=0.5,en;q=0.3 Accept-Encoding: gzip,deflate Accept-Charset: ISO-8859-1,utf-8;q=0.7,*;q=0.7 Connection: close HTTP/1.x 302 Found Location: heart Content-Type: love/emotion Server: CNS/2.1 Transfer-Encoding: chunked Content-Encoding: gzip Cache-Control: private, x-gzip-ok=”" Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2006 10:26:20 GMT |
