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Apr. 17th, 2010 09:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwendolyngreySometimes Grand Rapids surprises me by being super cool.
Last night was the annual Art.Downtown art hop, when all sorts of galleries and public spaces coordinate shows and openings.
The best show was undoubtedly the one in the old GR Public Museum, and was entitled 'Michigan- The Land of Riches'. The building itself was built in the 40s, but for the past fifteen or twenty years has only been used for storage. Still, pieces of old exhibits and dioramas remain, and became the base for the current art show. About 100 artists were involved with the project, and were given liscense to use any of the old displays or furniture or storage pieces in conjunction with their own work to creating installations. The result was incredible... taxidermied animals everywhere and wonderful pieces relating to Michigan's past or simply nature and human beings in general.
My friend Nate did a great piece of performing art. Nothing crazy (like the dancers who'd suddenly swoop in out of nowhere with odd, ritualistic choreography) just him, in a display case, sitting behind a desk in a ringmaster's jacket and hand-made yeti mask. Occasionally he'd move slightly, but to have something living and breathing inside a case while surrounded by hundreds of displays of dead, stuffed animals was quite surreal.
I only took pictures of Nate, so here are a couple images from the exhibition guide which give a pretty good feel for the show overall.
As you can see... super cool. ;)
The rest of the night was good too... rode around the city on the free trolley which they were running just for the event, discovered a new favorite place to eat downtown, walked all over and hung out on a porch with good friends. Great company and conversation overall!
And, for pretty much the first time since my senior show a year ago, I want to paint again. Lots of new ideas are simmering at the moment, but will have to wait until current obligations and projects are well in hand.
Last night was the annual Art.Downtown art hop, when all sorts of galleries and public spaces coordinate shows and openings.
The best show was undoubtedly the one in the old GR Public Museum, and was entitled 'Michigan- The Land of Riches'. The building itself was built in the 40s, but for the past fifteen or twenty years has only been used for storage. Still, pieces of old exhibits and dioramas remain, and became the base for the current art show. About 100 artists were involved with the project, and were given liscense to use any of the old displays or furniture or storage pieces in conjunction with their own work to creating installations. The result was incredible... taxidermied animals everywhere and wonderful pieces relating to Michigan's past or simply nature and human beings in general.
My friend Nate did a great piece of performing art. Nothing crazy (like the dancers who'd suddenly swoop in out of nowhere with odd, ritualistic choreography) just him, in a display case, sitting behind a desk in a ringmaster's jacket and hand-made yeti mask. Occasionally he'd move slightly, but to have something living and breathing inside a case while surrounded by hundreds of displays of dead, stuffed animals was quite surreal.
I only took pictures of Nate, so here are a couple images from the exhibition guide which give a pretty good feel for the show overall.
As you can see... super cool. ;)
The rest of the night was good too... rode around the city on the free trolley which they were running just for the event, discovered a new favorite place to eat downtown, walked all over and hung out on a porch with good friends. Great company and conversation overall!
And, for pretty much the first time since my senior show a year ago, I want to paint again. Lots of new ideas are simmering at the moment, but will have to wait until current obligations and projects are well in hand.
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Date: 2010-04-18 01:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-18 02:56 am (UTC)Also, on the subject of painting again—I've been modeling for Ed's figure painting class this past week, and I started thinking as I watched the students work—if I picked up a brush again and got out my oil paint palette, would I even know what I was doing anymore? It's been so long... However, I always felt more comfortable with watercolours, and I know I haven't forgotten how to use those, so maybe it's just that I never quite knew what I was doing with oils to begin with.
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Date: 2010-04-22 05:27 am (UTC)Funny, that's kind of how I feel about watercolor! I used it for the first time in a couple years recently, and I had a moment of panic where I honestly didn't know where to start or quite what to do. For some reason, even after a long time away, using oils feels kind of like coming home.
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Date: 2010-04-18 03:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-22 05:22 am (UTC)And yeah, it was pretty cool. ;)
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Date: 2010-04-18 02:08 pm (UTC)