More Arabesque and New Orleans

Arthur Simons' hyperbolic chamber installed in gallery 527, New Orleans. The device reverberates the subject's heartbeat into her skull.


Tent construction, full sun


Curators Katherine and Zaily in front of tent at sunset, thursday oct. 9

Arabesque

Here is a construction shot of Archival Editions' tent for the show "Arabesque," a site-specific installation which occurred on Oct. 9-11. I participated in the event along with a dozen other artists, mostly from New Orleans and Baltimore. The installation was in the manner of an Arab tent for living/selling. Central to the tent's decoration was a 16'x20' 200-year-old Oriental rug purportedly owned by Bob Dylan at one point in time, and borrowed from a New Orleans rug dealer. My piece was the artifact collection I gathered during my summer stay in Marfa. Archival Editions curated the show and selected the artists, and I feel very lucky to have been a part. For me it was much-needed, being in a nucleus of artists, builders, and thinkers, though we may not have all had the same relationship to the land or the act. Being back in Marfa was interesting and gave me a new perspective on being there as an outsider. The field our arabesque tent occupied was once a ball field in the fifties for old Marfa homesteaders, now old men getting Archival Editions' locally purchased lumber from the torn-down tent to heat their wood stoves.

I do love any opportunity to maneuver over that landscape a thousand miles, especially in a pickup truck.
View Larger Map

"An Invitation to Share and View Creative Works"

, a July evening at the Chinati Foundation Intern Lounge, affectionately called "Intern Talent Night," was a night to remember.

Goodbye Marfa, Rendezvous Greensboro

I have finished my stint at the Chinati Foundation (about 2 weeks ago), and I have already extolled some of the many virtues of it on this blog. I must say now that I came to think of 'intern' as a term of endearment toward the end. I miss the beauty of Marfa and the lovely people dearly. I will try to incorporate the tranquility and openness of Marfa here.

Switching gears, last night, I saw a wonderful talk at the Weatherspoon by Sherri Lynn Wood. Sherri was extremely humble yet articulate about her work, for which her working title is "Social Practice." Her work ranges from bereavement quilts, which she works with families on, to a vintage trailer she affixed a church sign to, and which she carted around the country. During her travels, she invited people to come inside the trailer, which is a meditation space she will not allow photographs of, and record their own personal mantras.
I was extremely compelled by a comment she made that her work cannot be critiqued by the "avant-garde." I was curious as to where she gets the strength to not participate in the avant-garde, and whether or not she feels pressure to, especially to get funding. In an answer to a similar question from the audience, she seemed to imply that she hasn't figured out how to describe her work to the avant-garde in terms that it can appreciate. She seems to get her strength from the relationships that she forms with people through her work. Towards the end she made a comment that I love, something to the effect of, the avant-garde has not yet convinced her of its importance. What a strong woman!
The show, Our Subject is You, which features Sherri, Steve Lambert, and others, is great. I am excited to have come back to it!

$1 Drawings

These drawings will be at "Limbo," Fingerprint, Burlington, NC in June.









Six minutes of drawing for $1 on an index card. If you would like to purchase a drawing, e-mail me at georgiadkennedy@gmail.com