you probably can’t tell but this blog just moved to a new home. amenities include bingo on tuesdays and shepherd’s pie / jewish karaoke on friday nights @ 4. needless to say arnie loves it here. come visit. don’t forget the bananas.
in the haste of packing and unpacking boxes, we’ve done a slew posters…
Its been a while since Joe or I posted anything about music. Its not cuz we arent listening, or havent both been absolutely bowled over by Wovenhand’s most recent record (as well as his entire back catalog) or enjoyed the latest from M. Ward and Beirut, or had Vetiver’s “Tight Knit,” Neko Case’s “Middle Cyclone” and the Great Lake Swimmer’s “Lost Channels” on continual repeat. Cuz we have. But the real record that seems to do it for me - and I think for Joe, too - is Elvis Perkins in Dearland. A few years ago Erin gave me Elvis’ first record, and it stands as a sort of marker for the beginning of our relationship. Therefore, it - and he - has a special place. That special place gets personified in the new record - its big and complicated and wonderful. Its happy and sad, triumphant and tragic, and is soaked with an atmosphere that begins at the first chirp of the recorded Cicadas on track 1 and ebbs and flows until the trundling, rumbling final track that asks “how’s forever been, baby?” Regardless of the question, the feeling, the weather, Perkins’ answer to it all in song is always beautiful.
Joe and I are currently working on collages in hopes that they’ll find their way into making a successful poster for Perkins’ upcoming show at Bottletree in May. They are the hardest posters to make, the ones for bands we admire so greatly, whose music inspires us so much that it becomes hard to articulate a proper response. But what a great gift to have - sounds that are so soundly they turn you mute.
Hear more straight from the source on this NPR INTERVIEW.
ADDENDUM, Sat. Apr 25: “Doomsday,” one of the standout trax from the record, is about 9/11. Its the best 9/11 song I’ve heard, and it should be listened to while reading Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.” The two go together like pb+j on warm bread eaten at a picnic where you sit in an ant bed after the canoe sank and you lost your frisbee. But you still have an ok time because its a beautifully crisp, bright Tuesday in Sept., and no matter what bad stuff happens, you’re alive and living and able to picnic.
Yesterday’s ALTART show at 2200 MLKJr in Anacostia was a nice success. The visitors to the space, while small in number, were all quality. I had a great time talking with everyone who found their way up to my little room in the abandoned office building. Thanks to everyone who braved the weather and the long trip over the river. A big thanks to Beth, Briony and Amy for making the event happen and inviting me to be a part. Let’s do it again!
I haven’t updated the blog with recent collages, so here’s one I had on display which happened to find a special home with some special friends -
Playing Spades, 2009
I’ll be showing my collages as a body of work entitled, “Queery” (a reference to the process/images I’ve taken from google image search to create the work) in an abandoned office space in Anacostia this Friday night from 7-9pm and Saturday from 10-4pm, as part of the Anacostia Cherry Blossom Festival. Here’s the press release:
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Anacostia Cherry Blossom Festival April 11th
Come be a part of Anacostia’s premiere spring event, the Anacostia Cherry Blossom Festival to be held on Saturday, April 11th, 2009 from 10 am to 4 pm. The festivities includes ALT ART 2200, located at 2200 MLK Jr. Ave SE, which will feature independent artists from DC. Jared Ragland, Nick Popovici, Caitlyn Lennon, Amber Robles Gordon, Alanzo Robles Gordon, Jon Royce and Susanna Thornton will present experimental works and works in progress, in media ranging from photography and collage, painting to mixed media and drawings.
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If you’re in DC, take the Green Line Metro to Anacostia or the 90,92, or 93 bus across the river until you see all the people.
