project plan

October 31, 2009

My project will make use of design and packaging to invite specific people to participate in an interview/ portrait-making process with me. My focus is on relationships and how our relationships play a huge role in defining us and making us human. In the process I will be exploring the differences and similarities between interview and the tradition fine art ritual of sitting for a portrait. In the creation of the art pieces that result I will use a wide variety of media to explore the possibilities of this intensive focus on one human being. What can be said about personality, construction of modern identity and our cultural outlook/ mythology? The final outcome will be a multi-faceted portrait of the relationship between us.
My aim is to create a game in which my subject might be enticed to collaborate with me and participate in this project. I will use my skills in book arts, printmaking and design to create a variety of packages that contain an invitation to participate. These may take the form of dossiers that will be delivered to five specific individuals outlining the rules of the exchange and asking them to accept my request. The idea is to show honor and appreciation through thoughtful design and craft. The resulting interviews may take place through dinner parties, long hikes, a cocktail party, or other social engagements. I will dedicate a certain amount of time for each portrait during which I will work with that person exclusively. This will be about 5 weeks for each person.
After acquiring five willing participants the next phase is to set up a time and place for the interview. I plan to create a somewhat controlled environment to help ritualize the space and underscore the feeling of this event taking place outside of everyday life or having some timeless significance. I also want to develop a persona based on my thoughts and feelings for each person and inhabit this alter ego during the interview and portrait process. I hope this will help me understand my own role in the relationship and intensify the aspect of a ritual rather beyond just “hanging out”. For this I hope to make use of my studies concerning rites of passage and how artwork has historically been used in these types of rituals
The third part of my project is simply the creation of portraits of these people based off the video, photos, transcripts, and my own impression of the interview. These will take the final form of individual multi-media portraits of each subject. I plan to use a variety of text, drawings and paintings, as well as the video and photographs to create these pieces. I will focus on these as individual portraits that are layered in time using all available media to create a rich and compelling portrait and to hopefully shed further light on some of the questions I ask in my research paper. It would be my ideal to open dialogues in which my own ownership of the situation as an artist is leveraged and I am dependent on the participation of others to complete my project.
My interest, and reason for setting up this project lies in two main areas. First, I am very interested in the social aspect, getting out of my own studio and engaging with people on terms that are not entirely my own. I want to explore the meaning and possibilities of friendship and the centrality of these people to my experience of life, and consequently, my art practice. Second, I am extremely interested in the relationship between portraiture and interview. Where are the boundaries between the two and what new possibilities might emerge by combination or synthesis of these forms?

Production Schedule

SEPT work on design strategy for packaging
OCT production of packages
NOV distribution
DEC distribution and interviews
JAN
FEB interviews cont. and studio work
MAR
APR all interviews complete. Studio work cont.
MAY
JUN prepare for exhibition and documentation
JULY

End of Days

October 8, 2009

We are officially gone and out of business. Thanks a million to everyone who showed work, contributed, put in a good word or whatever. Special thanks rings out to Paul Fujita and Dave Hagood for doing the things they do. Its a combination of financial realities and changing personal situations (i.e going to grad school) that makes it a necessity to fold. Theres a bunch of new faces around the Everett Station and I wish them all luck, lots of new things poppin, I look forward to checking them out.
see you all, PEACE, DA

June- “The Vancouverists”

June 22, 2009

Curated by Mr. Nathan Childs, this looks to be a really tight show of the cream of the crop who originated “over there” in the land of sales tax and pumping your own gas. Dont miss the opening on July 2nd @ 6PM til’ ? for special flavors and insightful insight. Yeah, Bird!

Temp New Hours

June 8, 2009

We will be open Friday evenings 5 - 8PM for this month. Please call to make an appointment if you’d like to see the show at another time. We will try to accommodate as much as we can.
Don’t miss the artist reception on June 19th, there will be folks flying in from several continents to take in the show and show respect. Also to drink beer and have a good time. 7PM to Midnight.

Entartete Kunts

May 9, 2009

We are proud to announce Junes show: Entartete Kunts III, the latest addition of Dennis Dreads’ epic annual group show of original work by an international roster of some of the most talented and celebrated artists working in metal and punk. Unmissable, if you still believe in an underground beyond the realm of commerce, hype and illusion. Stoked to have this one, yeah!

Tyler Kline - May 2nd

April 29, 2009

Just got this artist statement from Mr. Kline concerning his upcoming show here. Opens next Thursday, stop in to see the final step of his trilogy. We cant wait to be a part of it.

Silkworm, an installation of aluminum foil, paper moths and recycled material, presents a complicated relation to beauty best illuminated by the term Grotesque Romanticism. A ruined cathedral reclaimed by the primordial forest gives birth to a swarm of Rorschach Moths. The Swarm creates patterns within the gallery space; a type of nocturnal cartography emerges from the gestalt.
This installation represents the third part of a trilogy, begun with the Camp X-Ray installation at the Best Coast show in 2003(curated by Jeff Jahn), further developed in the These Ghost that Haunt Us installation at Little Berlin in Philadelphia, and reaching its terminal conclusion at TheLife in Portland, OR.

www.inliquid.com/artist/kline_tyler/kline.php
littleberlin.org

Love Show

January 28, 2009

This Love Show is turning into quite the annual Portland event. Everybody with any sort of visual artistic practice will be showing some sort of meditation on/ expression of Love. Simple yet elegant concept and it should be alot of fun. Opens Feb. 13th at the Olympic Mills space. Heres a link. Bring some food and dont forget to thank Ben Pink and Chris Haberman for taking on such an outlandish challenge as to curate 300 or so Portland artists. Big ups guys, thats some serious dedication.

Fall Hours

September 19, 2008

Please note our new hours if your planning on stopping in. We are only open fridays and for First Thursday, this might change in the future, but Sundays have been totally dead, I think alot of the Everett Station spots experience a drop-off as summer ends, so…

Dennis McNett in NYC

September 10, 2008

If your in New York, be sure to check out Dennis’ new solo show over there. It looks super sick, with more color and three-dimensional wolves. Dennis is on fire.

PFJ/ The Life on TV

September 10, 2008

Now heres a really crazy one. Check out this here to see Paul Fujita’s artist profile which is currently running on national television. It was made by Fuel TV and is running on that plus other networks. Paul’s 15 minutes are almost used up at this point. Congratulations dude! Thanks a million for getting the gallery in there, our website traffic just got a 1000% bump.