What I've been up to

I bought a Dr Don's button maker in 2000 for my mod show.  Last week I dusted it off and started playing with the button forms again.  It's a really nice machine and the end result has a great manufactured look.

Album of the Week 6 - Bad Brains

1982's self titled Bad Brains.  When I first heard this, in the mid 80s, I wasn't all that into it.  The individual songs were great and wound up on quite a few mix tapes, but the album didn't quite work for me.  I even got to interview H.R. for my college radio station but still couldn't be convinced.  It goes from extremely fast metalish hardcore to slow reggae jams.  To a teenager that pacing just threw me off.   Now that I'm middle aged, I've come to realize that this is really a great album.

I saw the reissue and decided to give it another try, it worked.  It's perfect pacing for a forty something working in the garage.  Each side starts out fast with a good 10 minutes of hardcore.  It gets your blood going and you can crank at whatever your doing.  Then the last track comes on and slows you down, you take a brake flip the album and start all over again.  It's a bit like hardcore interval training. 

The Car Is Back!

Car 23 is back from the Laguna Art Museum.  It is really nice to have it home.  Now I just need to tidy up a few things to make it street legal (windsheild, wipers, lights, license, seat belts....) and I'll be ready to roll.

Manual Haiku 9

the best possible

condition for the utmost

in riding pleasure

Drawn to Television 8

State of the Union

Old Gold 9

Rerecorder

2002

2 cassette players, boxes, wood, cassettes

15"x6"x4"

Group Show 4

front

back

Drawn to Television 7

        

E.T.

A Show I'm in - Resounding

Curated by Dan Cameron, Resounding is part of Prospect 1.5 and up Jonathon Ferarra Gallery in New Orleans through February 1.  It features Rhona Bitner, Tim Lee, Ted Riederer, Fikret Atay and me.  It's a pretty great group show about the representation of music after it's done playing.  


The first piece that came to mind was Lonesome Town.  It's a turntable with no tonearms playing Ricky Nelson's Lonesome Town to the flickers of it's sync lights.  It was inspired by The Cramps version of Lonesome Town but Nelson's is so much sadder.

  

Lonesome Town, 2006, turntables and Ricky Nelson 45

I wish I could've made it out to the show, the installation looks great.

Angry Eyes, 2003, scraped album covers and permanent marker

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (in process), 2010, scraped album covers and permanent marker

I'm Not in Love, 2003, scraped album covers and permanent marker

I'd Rather be a Man, 2003, scraped album covers and permanent marker

Can't Stop It, 2009, Acrylic silkscreened onto scrap wood

Album of the Week 6 - Serge Gainsbourg-aux armes et caetera

I got new vinyl records for Christmas!

New vinyl had almost disappeared from my life but thanks to wonderful companies, like 4 Men With Beards, reissues are something I've been experiencing more and more. There's nothing quite like breaking the seal and seeing the pristine vinyl.

This weeks album is Serge Gainsbourg's Aux Armes Et Caetera. There's not much to say about it that you can't find on the web, so I won't. I've just been listening to it all week. It's good to paint to and let your mind wander.

In general I'm not a big dub or reggae fan (I lean towards the pre-reggae stuff) but this album really grows on you. Maybe its the production of Sly and Robbie but I really think that reggae should be sung in French. It meshes so nicely with the beats. I'm going to have to track down some more French reggae and see.

Old Gold 8

Take 10

2002

2 Philips turntables, Dave Brubeck's Greatest Hits Lp.

22"x16"x6"

Manual Haiku 8

How to Ride Well

riding position

should be erect with your full

weight on the saddle

A Show I'm in - Searcher - part 5

Here's the flyer/ poster for the show

and an extra drawing of the show by our youngest.

A Show I'm in - Searcher - part 4

The final part of the Searcher at the Laguna Museum is the Segerstrom Gallery.

Installation was tough. The space has low ceilings and four big pillars. The pillars wind up being a great help by breaking up the space and allowing you to fit more work in there that you'd expect. The space wound up with nine pieces.

Diehard

2008

acrylic silkscreen on canvas

Diehard was first shown at the Miami Art Museum. It's made up of silkscreens of old racing stickers on a canvas camping tarp.

Hot

2010

cut up art magazines

Small Block

2008

oil paint on Chevy small block engine

Small Block was the Chevy engine I removed from Car 23.

Rocinante

2010

chunk of 1979 Mazda RX7, music box playing "Windmills of your Mind," wood, and nylon strap

Make Peace

2008

acrylic silkscreen on canvas

Mastodon

2010

chunk of 1979 Mazda RX7, music box playing "Windmills of your Mind," wood, and nylon strap

Go Away

2010

acrylic silkscreen on wood

Sun

2010

cut up art magazines

Almost in Love

2010

two turntables, water can speakers, amplifier, mixer, Elvis Presley Almost in Love LP

The turntable on the left drives the one on the right so it plays at one rotation per minute. It creates a deep drone that sounds like the rumble of the ocean or a distant car.

Way back in the day, as a fundraiser, the floor of the gallery was stamped with all sorts of different clubs, galleries and names. This one seemed appropriate.

inspiration - country livin'

I spent the weekend hanging out and water coloring. This is a painting of my piece The Passenger which is out to pasture at my folks' house.

I like the idea of copying my work in other forms....it might turn into something.

Cars - my second car

1974 Toyota Corona - which was my second 1974 Toyota Corona. I really don't know why I ended up buying the same car as my first one. I guess I just went with what I knew. Here it is featured in one of my basic photography assignments. The original photographs where pretty horrible but with a bit of photoshop magic and a lot of cropping the car almost looks cool.

This car was only with me for a year (1985-86?). Since I was living on campus it spent most of its time parked on the street and was probably one of the most under appreciated cars I've owned. I should note, it wasn't the most reliable beast it had a short somewhere and the battery would constantly be dead.

inspiration - Off Road Vespas

At least two people tried to race Vespas in the Baja 500 and Mexican 1000. The only evidence I have are three pictures from the 1972 Mexican 1000 race program. I don't know if they finished, or anything else about them, but they're still pretty inspirational.

1972 Baja 500 startline portraits

the captian read

"Busting through the canyons of South El Rosario, 1971 Mexican 1000."

That's about 150 miles from the start, it's really amazing that they made it that far. I like the asymmetrical light and It looks like they built some sort of expansion chamber that goes up and over the engine.

Drawn to Television 6

Mythbusters marathon

A Show I'm in - Searcher - part 3

The Brief Gallery

untitled (red)

2010

Gas Cans, zip ties and shop light

untitled (yellow)

2010

Diesel Can, zip ties, steel stand and lights