This Week in the Mercury
Artsy Archives
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Artsy PCS@Twitter Update
Posted by Alison Hallett on Tue, Jan 6 at 4:55 PM
I blogged about Portland Center Stage's Twitter-friendly performance of Apollo last week, and if you didn't catch the thoughtful comments on the post from Michael Rohd and Bob Hicks, as well as the response over at Culture Shock, check 'em out. Now here's a logistical update from PCS:
For members of the general public who want to tweet the show, here's how it'll work.
1. They will need to be following pcsghost on twitter.
2. We'll release the announcement about the "tweetup" performance, and the first 20 people to rsvp will receive a $10 balcony seat and an authorized twitterer pass with the info they'll need to tweet the show from inside the building
3. After those 20 tweet authorized spots are gone, we'll offer $10 off tickets to remaining twitterers who'd like to join us for the pre-show tweetup and see the show, which they are welcome to tweet about later (but not during the performance).
3. We'll ask all twitterers to hash tag their tweets with #apollo while they are in the building so that the outside world can follow their progress on twitter.com.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Artsy New Media Meets an Old Medium at PCS
Posted by Alison Hallett on Fri, Jan 2 at 11:32 AM
I'm not always won over by Portland Center Stage's productions, but their marketing efforts consistently impress. From offering $10 rush tickets to hosting indie bands in their lobby to their involvement with this month's Fertile Ground Festival, PCS is making a calculated bid to attract a younger audience. They have an excellent website and an active Twitter presence—and now I've been informed that they'll be reserving the balcony of the Sat, Jan 19 Jan 17 performance of Apollo (premiering as part of Fertile Ground) for laptop/iPhone users who want to tweet during the show. Anyone who follows PCS on Twitter (pcsghost) will be invited to a pre-show tweetup, and folks are encouraged to tag their posts #apollo so that others can easily follow the action.
More thoughts on this, and a gratuitous use of the term "Brechtian," after the jump.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Artsy Freedom of Information 2008
Posted by Alison Hallett on Tue, Dec 30 at 5:15 PM
There was an article in the New York Times yesterday about Freedom of Information 2008, a New York-based project that invites dancers across the country (ideally, one from every state) to participate in 24 hours of continuous improvisation while blindfolded and earplugged. The project, conceived by choreographer Miguel Gutierrez, is intended as a "contemplative act of solidarity with those displaced by the wars [in Afghanistan and Iraq]."
From the Times article:
Mr. Gutierrez, 37, will represent New York at the Barn in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. This is not his first foray into endurance art but an expansion of “freedom of information,” which he performed by himself in 2001. Reeling from the Sept. 11 attacks, the invasion of Afghanistan and what he described as “this Bush thing of just creating a state of terror,” he followed his gut.“I just had a strong instinct to be moving,” Mr. Gutierrez said recently in his Brooklyn apartment. “The idea of what it is to be a refugee or a person who’s disrupted by an armed conflict is so terribly abstract to me, really. I had to create some sort of thing that created a very weak, perhaps, but somehow partial analogue to understanding what that is.”
He emphasized that he was not attempting to equate, even indirectly, his willed action with forced suffering.
“What I can be direct about is a sense of solidarity with the other artists who are doing this, and this, at least, notion of a shared commitment to saying, ‘We will take these 24 hours together to go through some intense state of contemplation,’ ” he said. “I’m inviting people to consider displacement and war. I am sure a ton of other things will enter people’s thought processes: about their lives, about death, about life, about all kinds of things.”
Oregon is represented here by local choreographer/dancer Tahni Holt, and her performance begins at midnight tonight at Performance Works Northwest. Stop by anytime before midnight tomorrow, or watch a live stream of the performance on Holt's website.
Monday, December 29, 2008
News / Artsy 2008 in Pictures.
Posted by Erik Henriksen on Mon, Dec 29 at 3:49 PM
The New York Times has collected 160 photos summing up 2008, and all of them are worth a look. Here.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Artsy "I put to you that the United States is without doubt the greatest show on the road."
Posted by Alison Hallett on Thu, Dec 25 at 10:34 AM
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Artsy The Show Must Go On?
Posted by Alison Hallett on Thu, Dec 18 at 2:00 PM
I've only heard of one theater cancellation so far*: Tonight's staged adaptation of the musical episode of Buffy has been postponed until January 11.
Otherwise, Imago's Biglittlethings will continue as planned; Public Playhouse's radio adaptation of It's a Wonderful Life is a go; Portland Center Stage's A Christmas Carolis still on, and as their marketing director cannily pointed out in an email yesterday, now is a great time to take advantage of their $10 rush tickets. (Their website is down but you can call get tickets here.) On the funny tip, Cheap Date is still on at Curious Comedy, and so is the 3rd Floor's Weird Sandwich. Feel free to drop shameless plugs for YOUR show that's totally still happening even if it snows.
*it was snowing when I started working on this blog post.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Tech / Artsy / Books / News Of Blogs, Books and Burritos
Posted by Matt Davis on Wed, Dec 17 at 9:42 AM
"What a great son, huh?" says Roberta Dyer, the owner of Broadway Books at 1714 NE Broadway.
"He didn't ask me if he could do it, or tell me he was going to," she continues. "I was surprised, but I had mixed feelings about it, because you know you don't want it out there that your business is in trouble. But it seemed like he was emotional about it, and that this was a very heartfelt thing to do."
DYER (right): WITH BROADWAY BOOKS CO-OWNER SALLY MCPHERSON...
Dyer's son, Aaron Durand, wrote about his mother's bookshop being in trouble on his blog, Everydaydude.blogspot.com, last Thursday, December 11: "My father told me that business this winter season at my mom's store had been incredibly bleak. So much so that the future of the store could possibly be in jeopardy," he wrote.
Then, Durand made an unusual offer. He said his parents are coming to visit him in San Francisco—where he moved from Portland in August, and now works in sales for Birkenstock—on Christmas Day, and that he wants his mom to be smiling. So:
Meet me at Cha Cha Cha on SE Hawthorne in Portland on Friday January 16th at 6PM with a receipt from Broadway Books for over $50 and between today's date and Christmas and I'm buying your kind ass a burrito.
He wrote about the offer on social networking sites Facebook and his everydaydude Twitter feed, and all of a sudden, his blog went from its usual hundred hits a month to 400 on the first day.
The next day, Dyer saw 12 more customers in her store. And there was a difference.
"I'm a middle-aged lady catering mainly to an older, Irvington clientele," she says. "But all of a sudden there were all these marvelous and exciting young people coming into the shop. And none of them said 'I'm here to claim the burrito,' or anything like that, but the next day, Aaron got a photo on his phone of a receipt from our shop for $105, and an order for two burritos!"
"I've known Aaron for a long time," says that friend, Billy Kemmer, who happens to manage a homeless shelter here in Portland for service provider TPI. "It's totally like him to send something like that out, he's one of the most generous people I've ever met. I believe in the community around here, and things like this help it survive."
GOOD FOR TWO BURRITOS: KEMMER'S RECEIPT...
"Another one of my loyal customers who works at Wieden and Kennedy saw the blog and told all his friends about it, and came in here and dropped $200 on books!" says Dyer.
Durand loves burritos. He came up with the idea to buy people burritos because "it's a currency I use with my friends. That's what we use as a monetary value, do this for me and I'll buy you a burrito," he says. "It's just a lot more fun than saying, hey, I'll give you $5."
Durand says he's excited to see who shows up at Cha Cha Cha on January 16th. Although now the story has been written about on five local blogs, he's a little concerned about running out of cash.
"I've got $1000 left on this one credit card," he says. "And at $6 a burrito, I guess I'm going to have to cap it at 166 burritos."
Still, Durand says he's never felt better about digging himself into a thousand dollar burrito hole.
"Although there have even been people on the websites saying they don't care about the burrito," he says. "Which is kind of nice."
You can read the Broadway Books Blog here.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Artsy RACC Grants Announced
Posted by Alison Hallett on Tue, Dec 16 at 2:58 PM
The Regional Arts and Council Commission announced their 2009 grant awards today: Congratulations to Hand2Mouth, defunkt theatre, PDX Pop Now!, the IPRC, and the 98 other artists and organizations who will share $458,676 in grant money. (The money comes from the City of Portland, Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas Counties, Metro, and the RACC's Work for Art program, and is 12.5% more than they awarded last year.) I'll post the full list after the jump, since apparently not all of the artists got the official word as quickly as press did—I congratulated someone earlier who hadn't heard the news, and his complete response was: "AAHHHH!!!!! Oh man! Thanks for sending that on! I'm stoked!" Or you can click here for a pdf with a complete description of each project.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Artsy Another Death in the Portland Art Community
Posted by Alison Hallett on Fri, Dec 12 at 1:45 PM
I just received an email from the PR director at Portland Center Stage:
It is with deep sorrow that I relay that Josh Westhaver passed away earlier this week. Josh was an electrician with Portland Center Stage since we moved into the Gerding. He also was a spot operator with Guys and Dolls, Cabaret, and the end of West Side Story. He was a great spot operator, a genuinely great guy, and was taken much too early. Josh had a major asthma attack that led to cardiac arrest that he did not recover from.
There will be a memorial service for him at the Gerding Theater at the Armory on Monday night at 5 PM. Portland Center Stage will also accept donations in Josh’s honor that will be distributed to the charity of Josh’s family’s choice.
What a grim week. My sincere condolences to friends and family of both Josh Westhaver and Terry Toedtemeier.
Books / Artsy / Drunk Wordsmiths, Come Hither.
Posted by Alison Hallett on Fri, Dec 12 at 12:55 PM
I get the feeling that for some reason most of my acquaintances are convinced they could do my job better than I do (I like to think it's because I make it look easy). Now there's a chance for all you haters to put your money where your silent judging is, and bid now on our "Jumpstart Your Writing Career" package, which gives you the chance to swap jobs with a Mercury writer for a day. (Watch cat videos with me; Google "cock-shaped food" with Patrick; obsessively rearrange Battlestar Galactica action figures with Erik.) The package also includes lunch with NY Times-bestselling author Chelsea Caine and Mercury Editor-in-Chief Wm. Steven Humphrey; a one-year membership to the Independent Publishing Resource Center; and a $50 gift certificate to Amnesia Brewing, which should be sufficient to induce the state of low-level hangover* in which so much of the Mercury's content is produced.
And while you're flaunting your writing skills, Powell's is running a few contests where you can't buy your way to victory: Name their new squirrel logo and win a $100 gift card, or make a compelling case for your favorite word in the English language, and win the complete Oxford English Dictory, all twenty volumes of it. Now is a great time to support Powell's: The AP reported yesterday that Powell's is asking their employees to voluntarily scale back on hours and take unpaid sabbaticals because sales have been so weak. Between this and In Other Words, everyone I know is getting books for Christmas. Powell's is one of the greatest things about this city, hands down. There's only one way to ensure that it stays viable, and that's to spend your money there. You know this as well as I do, so go do it.
*Current hangover the aftermath of soul night at Rotture; a hipster cesspool, yes, and the short drunk girl who barreled into me in the drink line with nary an "excuse me" has no idea how close she came to getting smacked, but Beyonda's record collection is unfuckwithable and the dance floor was great practice for the Mercury girl date auction item, which I think is currently going for about $5 a girl. We are fun and we like to drink. Buy it for a single friend: hell, I'll even throw in some personalized assistance (note: NOT A EUPHEMISM) composing the Lovelab dating profile that's included in the package.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Artsy Terry Toedtemeier Dies.
Posted by Alison Hallett on Thu, Dec 11 at 3:23 PM
The O reported this morning that Portland Art Museum photography curator Terry Toedtemeier died last night in Hood River while signing copies of Wild Beauty, the book of photographs of the Columbia River Gorge that Toedtemeier co-assembled with John Laursen.
I can't quite figure out how to link to it, but if you hit the Powell's page for Wild Beauty, there's a link to the episode of Think Out Loud that featured Toedtemeier and Laursen talking about the book. There's also a Wild Beauty photography exhibit at PAM through Jan 11. Of the exhibit, our arts writer John Motley wrote:
This photographic survey of the Columbia River Gorge charts the impact of settlement over 90 years, when this wild territory was revised by the construction of dams, roads, and housing. That might sound like a depressing conceit, but the 200-plus photographs nonetheless capture all the sublimity of the region’s mountain vistas, waterfalls, and distinct rock formations. In fact, in the landscape photography of Carleton Watkins, the Gorge’s stunning terrain might actually appear more picturesque than the real thing.
You can read the art museum's obituary here.
Artsy / Events Prints for PICA
Posted by Marjorie Skinner on Thu, Dec 11 at 2:55 PM
For the sixth consecutive year, PICA is herding together some of the best and brightest Portland creatives under one roof for the Prints for PICA fundraiser, a win-win where Portland's most important arts non-profit makes a buck and you have the opportunity to snag one-of-a-kind art from your favorite artists. There are approximately one bajillion artists participating this year, but a few I would look out for are Adam Arnold, who is most well known as a fashion designer, but who is unstoppably creative and a man of many talents; Michael Gaughan, aka Ice Rod, again known more for post-ironic dance parties and dirty lyrics than visual art, all the more intrigue as to what he will produce; plus a couple other favorites who look more familiar in a gallery context: Nan Curtis, E*Rock, Jenene Nagy, Jesse Hayward, Vanessa Renwick, and the queen bee of PICA herself, Kristan Kennedy, plus so many, many more, all hopped up on caffeine and making marathon art! It takes place this Saturday the 13th at TodayArt Studios (439 SE Grand at Stark) from 6-9 pm, and the prints will range from $100-250 each.
A piece by Midori Hirose, one of the many other participating artists
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Artsy / Books Back Fence PDX
Posted by Alison Hallett on Wed, Dec 10 at 12:49 PM
(Matt already blogged about this but I'm making him take it down 'cause I'm proprietary like that, so sorry if you're getting Back Fence inundated this morning.)
Back Fence PDX is a storytelling series that invites interesting folk to tell unmemorized, eight-minute stories on a given topic; past guests include Metro President David Bragdon, writer Beth Lisick, and Kill Rock Stars founder Slim Moon. The series has grown exponentially in popularity since its first show over the summer, and tonight sees the Back Fence crew moving to a bigger stage for their biggest event yet: A music-themed evening featuring local musicians Danny Seim, Nick Jaina, Gideon Freudmann, Adam Shearer, and Dolorean's Al James, and Joan Hiller Depper.
Let me break down for you why tonight's event is so promising.
-There are no Mercury staffers on the bill.
-In addition to being extraordinarily tall, Menomena drummer and Lackthereof frontman Danny Seim is very funny, as evidenced by this fantastic article he wrote for a Mercury music issue about his Christian upbringing, and the literal fear of God instilled by the Larry Norman song "I Wish We'd All Been Ready."
-Portland Cello Project member Gideon Freudmann's appearance on August's anniversary edition of LiveWire was a highlight of an otherwise snoozy show—when host April Baer tried to get in some digs about cellists, Freudmann (and PCP cohort Doug Jenkins) deftly turned the tables and made cellos seem cooler than ever.
-Weinland's Adam Shearer emceed the Portland Cello Project's CD release party at the Mission this summer, and by the end of the show I guarantee you every woman in the audience wanted to marry him. The PCP can take a while between songs to shuffle their cellists and singers around, and Shearer was low-key and funny as he filled the show's dead air, even hosting a haiku contest and inviting audience members to text him their submissions (until his phone's memory filled up).
-I don't know Nick Jaina personally, but only a damn good storyteller could write "Power."
-Ditto Dolorean's Al James and "Heather Remind Me How This Ends."
The only lady on the bill, Ms. Hiller Depper is the owner of PR firm Riot Act Media (and, when she was living in Seattle, an occasional Stranger contributor). Suffice to say she's the type of woman men write songs about.
Updated at 2:30 pm:-AND! Lisa Marsicek, AKA Miz Kitty of monthly vaudeville act Miz Kitty's Parlor. Sorry I missed that the first time around, I mistakenly thought Miz Kitty was performing at intermission but in fact that honor goes to Katie Jean Arnold.
It's handily their best lineup yet. The only way it could be better would be if Willy Vlautin was on the bill. (Check out his "Jockey's Christmas"—don't be deterred by the "spoken word label," it's a heartbreaker, and the CD itself is beautifully designed.) Buy your Back Fence tickets in advance, as they shall sell out; Mission Theater, 8 pm, $10. Seeya there. (I'll be the drunk one trying to be funny but actually accidentally insulting people.)
Artsy Humpy's Top Ten Calendars for 2009!
Posted by Wm.™ Steven Humphrey on Wed, Dec 10 at 9:54 AM
As you clearly know I have a calendar fetish. And with that truncated introduction, I hereby introduce my top ten calendars for 2009 (so far). ON SALE NOW!
1) MEN ON A MISSION
Yes, the Mormon church donated a crap-ton of money to screw over same-sex marriage. But at least a few ex-communicated members of Magic Underpants, Inc. are giving back to society with the MEN ON A MISSION calendar, featuring 12 months of barely clothed Mormon hunks! If I were a polygamist, I'd marry every one of 'em! Only $15.95.
2) WOMEN IN WADERS
Last year I waited too long to get this awe-inspiring calendar of bikinied women in waders holding trout. AND IT WAS THE WORST GODDAMN YEAR OF MY LIFE. Don't be me. Get WOMEN IN WADERS now. Only $12.95.
Eight more awesome calendars (including "Naked Clowns") after the leap!
Friday, December 5, 2008
Artsy My Turn for a Shameless Auction Plug
Posted by Alison Hallett on Fri, Dec 5 at 5:00 PM
The "You and the Portland Art World" package is currently at $103.50. That is almost $50 less than the value of the package's Fertile Ground pass ALONE, not to mention the two tickets to any Artist's Rep show, 4-pack to any Portland Center Stage shows, two tickets to any show at the Miracle Theater, four White Bird tickets, dual membership to PICA, admission to Ethan Rose's upcoming show at Oaks Park, where he'll be playing the pipe organ... I don't know the total value of this package, and I'm not even going to attempt to figure it out right now, because there's karaoke-shame where my reasoning capacity should be. But it's a whole lot more than $103.50.
Now, back to watching YouTubes of sleeping kittens. It helps.
Artsy / Drunk / Events / Fashion Breeze Block Gallery Re-Opens Tonght
Posted by Marjorie Skinner on Fri, Dec 5 at 1:41 PM
Migrating from its perch on NE Alberta, Breeze Block Gallery reopens tonight with a store-wide sale, the work of seven artists (Stephen Williams, Steve Mathews, Tiago de Jerk, Jason Graham, Garrett Price, Jason Vivona, and Raskoe), and DJ T. Rust. Come see the brand-new alley-side space (1847 E Burnside) freshly festooned with murals and spray paint-can chandeliers, and welcome Portland designer Chelsea Erhart, who is making it her Erhart line's new home. I can tell you all about the fun things she does with clothing over on MOD, or you can just let the photo speak for itself:
The party's tonight, from 6-10 pm!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Artsy I Think I Am a Narcissist.
Posted by Alison Hallett on Tue, Dec 2 at 10:38 AM
Lest I be accused of being an oppressor who, WORSE, doesn't unconditionally support the local arts scene, I will let this project speak for itself.
CoG presents, Denial of Self, a play for you, about you, made by you via this wiki. Only you can prevent narcissism! This project is negotiating the intersections of shadows (puppetry), line (aerial/acrobatic performance) and color (visual projections), and humanity (theatre). It also borders the ideas of right and wrong, good and bad, light and dark, seriousness and humor, public and private.The play will explore Narcissistic Personality Disorder and the devastating effects of cultural narcissism as well as the interrelation of narcissism, war, corporations, bigotry, and consumerism, while dancing through with the joy and possibility of Clowns and Puppets. This work is being created publicly via this online wiki, where CoG will also be accepting contributions to the work through Activities which will be used in the formation of the content, masks, and puppets. Cog's Goal is to create theatre for the people by the people!
Opens Thursday at the IFCC. My will to live is literally not strong enough to survive seeing this show (I'll stick with Altar Boyz, thank you), but if anyone goes, pleeeeease send me your thoughts.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Cats / Artsy Cat Monday
Posted by Alison Hallett on Mon, Dec 1 at 9:51 AM
Books and Cats , via the LA Times' Jacket Copy:
That cat is not experiencing an omnivore's dilemma. That cat is a tiny, fuzzy murderer, and if it could figure out a way to eat you, it totally would. Irony alert!
Friday, November 28, 2008
Artsy / Cats Cartoons, Pies, Cats.
Posted by Alison Hallett on Fri, Nov 28 at 4:00 PM
Couple things.
1. The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book was totally right on when it informed me that pouring warm pumpkin pie filling into a warm crust would make for a creamier pie, and subbing vodka for some of the water in the crust does in fact make it flakier. Who knew. ATK's Jack Bishop will be at the Cedar Hills Powell's next Wednesday, 7 pm.
2. Tonight at the Miracle Theater, sketch comedy troupe the 3rd Floor opens their new holiday show, Weird Sandwich. I guarantee you it's going to sell out, so get there early or call 281-0350 for reservations. The 3rd Floor is funny; laughter is slimming.
3. Tomorow at Holocene , Cartune Xprez's DVD release party. Animations from Bruce Bickford, Takeshi Murata, Paper Rad, and more, plus music from Hooliganship, Mega*Church, and Explode into Colors. 9 pm, $6
4. Rather identifying with this cat today:
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Artsy / Music The Art of Musical Maintenance
Posted by Alison Hallett on Tue, Nov 25 at 3:55 PM
The Goodfoot's annual poster art show, the Art of Musical Maintenance, opens next Thursday--and in commemoration of the show's fifth year, the Goodfoot has just announced the release of a glossy, spiral-bound book collecting high-quality reproductions of some 300 of the posters that've shown since 2004. A copy of it just hit my desk--it's a very pretty book, and can be purchased here for $35 if you are so inclined, or at the show itself (though the price will go up after the opening). Think Christmas present.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Artsy Photo Lottery Winner 20 NOV 2008
Posted by Mark Searcy on Mon, Nov 24 at 11:17 AM
Congratulations The One True b!X!
Your photo was this weeks Mercury Photo Lottery winner!
Be sure to check out the back page of the Portland Mercury to see this photo in all its newsprinted glory!
This week's runner-ups...
:: Posted by Lelonopo
:: Posted by PDX Pipeline
Submit your Portland photos here.
Play. Win. Get Ink!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Artsy Onstage this Weekend
Posted by Alison Hallett on Fri, Nov 21 at 5:02 PM
Local author Marc Acito has penned a play for Artists Rep about a suburban household that takes in a homeless pagan girl for the holidays. Tonight is opening night which means there is free wine which means I will be there; while the premise sounds iffy, Marc is a funny writer and a generous performer, so I'm cautiously optimistic about the show.
While sucking down free wine with a few other local critics last night, Coho's The Receptionist kept coming up as the only real "must see" running in town right now. Tonight and tomorrow are your last chances to catch it.
It's also your last chance to heckle Mercury Food Editor Patrick Coleman in his role as a hapless slacker in Action/Adventure's Fall of the House. He's acting, people. Totally acting.
New company Portland Playhouse presents Gina Gionfriddo's After Ashley. The script is heavyhanded and ultimately uninsightful, but the company does a nice job with it--I was impressed more than anything with how intimate and energetic this production was.
R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE is still on at PCS. Go see it. You'll like it. And if you don't, write me a mean letter about what a hack I am, and maybe you'll win Letter of the Week.
You can now buy a Fertile Ground button, which at $9 gets you a discount on any festival show you want to see, as well as deals at participating restaurants. If Fertile Ground isn't on your radar already, it should be: It's a citywide festival of all-new works, produced by a cross-section of companies including PCS, Action/Adventure (presenting season 4 of Fall of the House), Artists Rep, Key Productions, and so on. Plus I hear that "I Am Fertile Ground" undies are in the works, which is just so... hilarious. Like boobytrapping your crotch.
More listings here. Have a good weekend everybody. And, oh yeah! Happy Cat Friday, courtesy of Blogtown reader Kara's cat Bunz.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Artsy / Portland Annie Leibovitz Tonight
Posted by Matt Davis on Thu, Nov 20 at 10:25 AM
Update: The talk is sold out. You might like to try showing up in the rain and scalping a few tickets. But I'm sorry to say that might be futile. Sorry to have baited your taste and then to have to stomp on it.
Photographer Annie Leibovitz is in town tonight, giving a talk as part of the Portland Arts & Lectures series.
Her latest book, apparently, weaves celebrity portraits with photo journalism, and I'm interested to hear her talk about being "serious," given that much of her work seems to have consisted of getting famous people to take off more clothes than they might otherwise have chosen to, for a less famous photographer.
I don't mean that to be glib. There's photographs she's taken that clearly take massive amounts of planning, multiple lighting assistants and the works. Her work can be really impressive without the nudity:
What I'm interested in, though, is whether the ability to get people to strip and throw knives is accompanied by a disarming frankness in Leibovitz's manner. Is she as interesting as she is famous? As her work is? I hope so. Either way I think it's worth the $12 to find out.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Artsy Ontstage Tonight: Boxes
Posted by Alison Hallett on Tue, Nov 18 at 3:56 PM
Tonight at the Someday Lounge, Penplay (group of screenwriters and playwrights dedicated to creating new work in Portland) present a workshopped version of Jessamyn Rae's Boxes:
One last family Christmas. Alex returns to her childhood home in a last ditch effort to make her family accept, and maybe, understand her. Easter had been a disaster between coming out to her family, Uncle Ron calling her "it", and no one willing to stand up for her. And this time, just an apology won't do; her family is going to experience Alex's world, where sexual identities are open for debate, socially imposed boxes are ripped apart, and people love beyond the surface.
How do you find an identity in a world in which you have no place? Boxes, by Jessamyn Rae, is not your usual "coming-out" story; it is a unique look at a young person rebelling against the gender identities or "boxes" placed upon us by society. "The problem is that most people foolishly believe that the body and the brain are always meant to match."
Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th, $5 and up (sliding scale). The show will get a full production in January at the citywide Fertile Ground new works festival (tickets and info here)
Artsy / Build Out Goodbye Graffiti
Posted by Sarah Mirk on Tue, Nov 18 at 11:45 AM
While Matt packs his bags for his publicly-funded pan-America graffiti research trip, I want to memorialize my new favorite graffiti in the city, since it will soon be torn down. Experts agree that, "Eighty-five percent of graffiti is just tags and another 10 percent is gang communication" but there's some art on the last remaining wall of a cinderblock building on the corner of N Williams and Cook that falls into the esteemed top five percent.
Despite biking past the graffiti most days, I never really noticed it until I was walking around the area this weekend after dumpstering stale cinnamon rolls from the Hostess Thrift Store a block away (long story - not recommended). The neighborhood is full of vacant lots gathering rain - the watery graves of construction projects failed or never begun. The contractor for the corner site says they don't know yet what will be built there, but the heavily-graffittied building was a big liability because people could camp out in there and do drugs. In that area, it's safer to have an empty fenced-in lot than an abandoned building.
So the awesome graffiti is ephemeral, but there's nothing wrong with that. Tagging a building slated for demolition is an interesting site-specific choice. I just want you to see it before it's gone.
more photos below the cut
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