Lost in memories and transit

Although I was continuing on with my February Gallery Fest as planned, maybe I just wasn't in the artsy mood today, or didn't really feel welcomed at either of the places I visited, but whatever it was...the art I saw today didn't really click with me. Though I did love one piece that was at SPACE, the gallery as a whole didn't really impress me and Wood Street Galleries was a little far-fetched to my eye. But in art, everyone's a critic and I know that my opinion certainly doesn't stand for everyone's which is why I encourage everyone to check out these galleries for themselves. Only take my opinion at face value.

HC Gilje: in transit
This is the exhibit going on until April at Wood Street Galleries, which must have been having an elevator problem today because I had to go all over the place to get to the actual gallery and since it was split between floors, I actually only got to see the second floor. So that in itself makes my opinion biased I guess, but let's be real, this kind of stuff should just work if you expect people to enjoy their experience.

Anyway, in a little pamphlet I picked up about a week ago that is about this exhibit has an explanation by HC Gilje's work and it says, "I often work with projection as an advanced light source which can be masked to the shape of different surfaces of a room or an object, affectingly modulating the light and sound I project into it...Being able to control what is visible and when it is visible gives me the opportunity to influence both perception of time and space." Well. That's all well and good and I'm sure it took great effort to figure out each idea of what would be projected and how, but let's just say it wasn't my cup of tea. This exhibit would probably lead to a great discussion of whether or not it is really art because it is basically just manipulation of a projector. But, I guess the art would be in the way this everyday object is manipulated.


Overlapping Memories
This exhibit, currently at SPACE is "exploring memory and introspection through contemporary uses of collage in digital media" and has various artists featured from Spain and the US. I was more open to this exhibit because I like the gallery better in general and it had more pieces that I could actually want to get into, though most I must admit I was turned off to because there were a lot of digital pieces and I, frankly, didn't want to watch them all. Wow. I should probably revisit both of these when I'm in an artsy mood, gosh I sound so mean!

part of Elementary Excursions by Andrew Ellis Johnson

Detail of Elem. Excursion

Now of course, because I'm a stupid American, my favorite piece was one by fellow land-of-the-braver, Andrew Ellis Johnson, with his piece, Elementary Excursions. This work made me so happy. Simple lines of paint on the walls with little baseball card sized pictures of animals thumb-tacked to each line. This piece reminded me of my bedroom at my parents house, because I have vertical stripes that take up an entire wall and then poster-sized frames with regular 4x6 pictures in the middle of them in each stripe- so I must admit that that familiarity of this piece to my own "art" in my bedroom is what initially drew me in. But I also loved the uniqueness of each of the little pictures - it all reminded me of an elementary field trip to the zoo, which is just a quality feel good piece of art. It was a great ending to a kinda bummed-out start in the art world.

A chick's view of the auto show...

So I've been debating on whether or not to blog about my recent adventure with MJ to the Pittsburgh International Auto Show and decided today that it is about Pittsburgh, so why not? As promised in my Valentine's Day post, I took my man to the auto show for his Valentine's treat. My Valentine's treat to see The Vow was ruined by a dumb snow storm the weekend prior and since I only really like going to the theater when there is a) nothing else to do or b) during the weekend the movie actually comes out - MJ treated me to a yummy dinner at UNO's before our auto show adventure instead.

Since MJ is not a true Pittsburgh-er and drives everywhere and I still walk super slow thanks to ACL/meniscus surgery in December, we had to deal that whole parking issue and were not allowed to park in the convention center parking garage, so settled for the History Center's lot instead. (Later we were very thankful for our fate.) To be quite honest, I know pretty much nothing when it comes to cars. Although I am a decent driver (for a girl) and I know how to check/change the oil, transmission fluid and a tire...I have never actually done any of those things, but I do know how. (Thanks, dad.) But that's about as far as my car knowledge goes. MJ on the other hand....crazy car freak. One of his shinning male qualities that make up for all the other metro things he does that make people want to question his sexuality. He was in his glory and it was great to be with him as he was talking 100 miles a minute about all these technical car terms. I love making him happy.

Driving away in my new BMW. No big deal.

Obviously, by the title of it, you can probably figure out that cars from all over the world were there. Which was awesome, pretty much every car being made right now was represented. My personal favorites being the KIA Forte Koup, the new Volkswagen Beetle and the MAZDA2. And they also introduced a couple new cars that haven't been released to the public yet, like the Dodge Dart, which is a lovely little guy. Now, I judge cars based on their visual appeal and comfort level, usually my picks (like the ones mentioned) are compact but MJ judges on their brand names and their 534,430,385 aspects that I don't understand and he likes bigger vehicles. But needless to say, we both had an awesome time looking at and sitting in a bunch of cars we hope to someday be able to afford. And just as we finished our rounds and were about to head out of the building, the fire alarm went off, forcing everyone to leave with us. Thankfully we were close to the exit so that I wasn't trampled over and thankfully we didn't park in the convention center garage because we were actually able to leave instead of wait in the cold for the building to be cleared. Great fun and great times had by all....except maybe those left out in the cold!

Not impressed by the Fang family's "art"

Last night I finished reading Kevin Wilson's The Family Fang. To be honest, I cannot say that I was too impressed. The book, obviously, focuses on the Fang Family and their crazy theatrics but besides that, I didn't find much to it.

Book Cover: The Family Fang

The parents, Caleb and Camille, are performance artists who do seemingly "random" acts of art, basically by creating a plot and a plan and then showing up in a town (usually at the mall) where no one will recognize them, and create "art." But their children, Annie and Buster, also simply known as Child A and Child B or just A and B; however, think their parents are just creating chaos and hate that what their parents call art is really just ruining a moment in innocent peoples lives. This family is messed up. But not only because the parents are weird, but because they make their kids "perform" with them, from the time of birth.

Now, although this book will not go on my list of favorites, there were some admirable qualities about it. I love a story that can switch back and forth with each chapter to a present day and a flashback moment, without getting the reader lost in what happened right before in the present. Kevin Wilson was able to make the story flow smoothly between the two and seemed to know when was a good moment to cut off the present day and jump into a flashback chapter pretty fluidly. I also very much appreciated the relationship between Annie and Buster because having to live with wack-job parents would totally bond siblings together because they are the only other ones in the world that understand the situation you're in as well. Not to mention I'm getting tired of the typical story line where siblings hate each other and cannot get along even though they are well into adulthood - for me, that is unrealistic since my brother and I have grown up and become closer, not further apart.

Author: Kevin Wilson

However, my beef with this novel is that I couldn't fully love any of the characters. Their personal stories only brushed the surface level and it was hard to want to keep reading at times because I wasn't feeling an emotional draw to any of them. Especially with the character of Camille, her life in general was too unbelievable to me. I get that she was a rich girl and started as a painter and then fell in love with her professor (Caleb) and started to love his kind of art instead, but once she becomes a mother there is too much back and forth with her character where I think she should have been a constant. Once she becomes a mother, the book mentions that she is so much better with Annie as a baby then Caleb is and knows through instinct what she needs, which is all well and good but then as the kids grow up, and finally as they have moved out, it's like she does not love them anymore, which is not a believable sentiment at all. Mothers who are that in tune with their children do not stop loving them...mothers never stop loving, period. This character flaw ticked me off because it was as if she loved the art more than her children, but if that's what Kevin Wilson wanted to display, he should have shown that side of her since their birth. (In my opinion anyway.) And considering I saw Caleb's character as nothing more than a selfish, brainwashing prick, I have nothing else to say about him.

For all I know, since I actually read the uncorrected proof of the novel (for some reason that's all the library had) the actual printed version might be totally different. Camille might be more lovable in it, Annie and Buster might have real emotion to the fact that their parents continually ruined their lives and Caleb might be a worth-while character to mention...for your sake, I hope the uncorrected proof was not the one that went to print. Sorry, Kevin.

And I'm published....again!

Cover of Falling Star

No matter how many times it happens, I always get so excited when my writing gets published. It's like my little babies are making it in the world and I'm their proud mama. So in the mail today I received my check and two copies of Falling Star Magazine....oh, yeah, I did say check. (Added bonus when a written baby brings home money too!) Anyway, now that I have given the first rights of publishing to the magazine, I am free to post the poem here for your enjoyment; however, you'll be missing out on all the other great works in the Spring 2012 edition of the magazine.


Greensburg. Where I Am.

Greensburg.
Roughly forty five minutes south of Pittsburgh
with large chain stores & restaurants that guard the outskirts of the city limits
and house some of the finest locally owned jewelry stores & fresh produce shops
on this side of the east coast.

Stores and shops that no one ever goes to
because they're all too busy trying to find a bargain
on already spoiled milk and brownish lettuce,
next to the same shirt that every girl owns from the closest Wal-Mart,
as they complain via the Trib
about how they need to stop buying everything from major corporations
and start to find some place family owned to buy their shit.

Greensburg.
About one hundred and one miles north west of Breezewood,
which is only known for its rest stops and gas stations
along the Lincoln Highway where the PA Turnpike meets I-70
and where traffic lights oddly appear to interstate highway travelers.

Greensburg.
Only two hundred and thrity six miles from Alexandria Virginia,
where you currently reside in a two bedroom walk up with a lesbian roommate,
without cable and without a real job to hold on to.

Alexandria.
Roughly six miles from Washington DC,
has the highest average income in the state,
houses the national headquarters for the Salvation Army
and is listed as the top city in the nation for online charitable giving,
but still, won't give you back to sweet little, spoiled milk buying, Trib reading,
Greensburg.

Alexandria. Where I'd rather be.



This piece was written over a year ago, when MJ was in his last semester of undergrad, but was doing an internship in Virginia, while I was still at Seton Hill. Feel free to leave me your thoughts on it.

A Man's Internal Reflection & A Few Paper Thin Hearts

As promised, today was the second step in my February Gallery Fest and I'm pleased to report the art is getting better and better (in my opinion at least). Today, I went to 707 Penn Ave. and 709 Penn Ave., which are located about five feet away from each other. Both exhibits were fabulous.


707 - Steve Emmett: Internal Reflections

Man's Best Friend

In this gallery you will find a number of paintings that focus on "his motif of the solitary male figure," done by the late Steve Emmett, who was a professor at Edinboro University, as well as an artist. Now I must admit, these paintings were quite manly in the sense that I could imagine all of them being done in real life, by men and only men. A lot of them made me feel like I accidentally walked in on a man just living his life on a typical Saturday afternoon. Boxers, mess and beer is an easy way to sum up the gallery as a whole. And while I found it a bit off to have the paintings hanging in a perfectly clean gallery, maybe that was the intent. I love when artists let you walk in on real life, each of Steve's paintings were very rich in color and raw in emotion. It's not everyday that you see art that's beautifully messy, usually, from what I've seen, artists tend to pick one or the other. I admire when artists break out of the "norms"...I believe that's really what art is supposed to do anyway.

My favorite piece from this collection was called Man's Best Friend, which was done in 2005 and is being sold for $1,900...in case anyone is interested. Again, the emotion on the man's face in this painting is so real and the scene is striking but yet, depicting something so common. Whatever is going on in this man's mind must be agonizing, but at least his faithful little companion is there to support him.


709 - Kathryn Carr: Paper Thin Theater

Mother Earth

I absolutely adored this exhibit! I seriously could not get over it; the detail, the humor and wit, the innovation and interaction, the technique...all flawless. (I'm pretty sure I became her number one fan today.) On a sheet of paper, as you make your way into the gallery is an explanation of the art. Kathryn Carr does paper cut art, which focuses on storytelling, mostly children's tales, puppetry and opera, which are presented in a silhouette form. The paper also said that she began this kind of art in 2008 and that it has remained her only medium because she loves the bold effects of the silhouette and straightforwardness of the creative process. Seriously, Kathryn must have been that one kid in the second grade who was making these bomb paper snowflakes while everyone else was just trying not to cut their fingers off. This exhibit was amazing! Not only was I filled with so much joy going through and actually remembering some of the fables, but it was so cool to see something so unique. Maybe this is a huge medium somewhere, but I've never seen something this beautiful and as simple paper cut-outs. And of course, since the gallery was selling prints of some pieces and cards with some other pieces on them, I had to buy something! And if you know me, you know that I spend far too much time being in love with stationary and the card aisle of every store...even if I don't actually need to buy a card for someone, so I bought a few the cards. Probably the best purchase of the year and it's only February.

Staged Identity

Since I loved Kathryn's exhibit so much, I'll just let her pieces speak for themselves. I'm currently using Mother Earth as the background on my phone and really had to pull myself away from buying it. But the cards are so beautiful as well. I'm not posting them, because I want the people who I plan on sending them to, to be surprised, but I will say that two are very "teacher-like" and two are about love and Pittsburgh. In other news: both of the exhibits mentioned are going on until Sunday the 19th, so if you're in the area, be sure to check them out! You cannot get the full experience simply through reading my blog - get out there and support the artists, Pittsburgh! You'll be glad you did!