for art and a job (poor paul klee edition)

"Mam, could you please not touch the painting?'
"Well...."
"yes?"
"There's glass on it for a reason."

I swear I'll post tomorrow.

Predictably

Ok, just after that last post this came through on the transformer list:



FOR MMEDIATE RELEASE
May 15, 2006

CONTACT: Victoria Reis / Brigitte Reyes
202-483-1102

Transformer's Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Victoria Reis as Executive Director of Transformer as of May 16, 2006.

Transformer was founded by Victoria Reis and Jayme McLellan in 2002
to serve the artists of Washington, DC and beyond. Transformer has
enjoyed great success over the past four years providing a broad
range of cultural experiences to artists and audiences. With
steadfast community support, the organization has grown into a
nationally recognized, vitally important support system for emerging
artists.

"It has been an honor to work with Jayme McLellan in building
Transformer and establishing its mission - to connect and promote
emerging artists while serving as a catalyst and advocate for
emergent expression in the visual arts. As Executive Director, I
look forward to working with Transformer's dedicated board of
directors, advisors, artists, and the community in furthering our
programs and services as Transformer enters its 5th year of
operations this June 2006," says Reis.

"I am confident that Victoria Reis will excel in her new role as
Executive Director of Transformer and will further the organizations
mission in support of artists and the community." – Brigitte Reyes,
Transformer Board President. Jayme McLellan resigned from her
position as co-director of Transformer to become the Interim
Executive Director of Women & Philanthropy - a national leadership
organization of grant-makers. She served as Director of Development
for Women & Philanthropy for two years (2002-2004) while also co-
directing Transformer.

Dave Gustine, a recent graduate of The Corcoran College of Art &
Design and Transformer intern for the past eight months, has been
hired as Transformer's part-time Program Assistant. Transformer will
also be contracting an Auction Coordinator to assist with
development and implementation of Transformer's 3rd Annual Silent
Auction and Fundraiser to be held in late October 2006.

TRANSFORMER is a Washington, D.C. based 501(c) 3 non-profit, artist-
centered organization that connects and promotes emerging artists
locally, nationally and internationally. Partnering with artists,
curators, art spaces and other cultural entities, Transformer serves
as a catalyst and advocate for emergent expression in the visual
arts. Transformer's 2005/2006 exhibition series is supported by The
Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The DC Commission on the
Arts and Humanities/NEA, The Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation,
and The Visionary Friends of Transformer.

# # #

TRANSFORMER
1404 P STREET NW
WDC 20005
202-483-1102
www.transformergallery.org

in the city

Finally I am living in DC, west of Logan Circle.

GOODBYE
car
laying in the grass
infinite supply of eggs
stealing gas
2.5 hr commute

HELLO
construction next door at 7am
garbonzo beans
being able to run to people's houses like the metro isn't even there beneath you
glorius venues
being in the exact middle of three metro lines (red, .57 miles, green .67, orange .68)
dead birds on the sidewalk everywhere i go
faux fireplace

Now where's my corresponadance stock.

AND is anyone getting that Jayme is leaving Transformer. That's the real news.

business cards or real world hyperlinks

www.saradierck.com
www.vampler.net

News

Jayme McLellan, Co-director and founder of P Street's TRANSFORMER galllery will be leaving to pursue another job. Victoria Reis is still on. The gallery will be three years old in September.

Jayme is also curating Ken Ashton's upcoming Flashpoint show, De Aqui al Paraiso.

Cabinet, Spring 2002

UNRELATED James made it to see Thomas Dolby. Catching the perfect wave at the end of a school desk no doubt.

Calls

Via WMATA:

"Metro, in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, has issued a call to artists for artwork for the Metrorail system's five Metrorail stations to be built in Virginia as part of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project - Phase 1.

Metro's Art in Transit Program commissions site-specific permanent artwork for the Metrorail system. The Art in Transit Program incorporates artwork into Metro transit facilities to promote transit use, enhance travel and highlight the cultural vitality of metropolitan Washington, D.C, and the nation.

See the Call to Artists brochure for details."

and from Claire Huschle:

The Arlington Arts Center, a leading contemporary visual arts venue in the metropolitan Washington D.C. area, seeks a full time Program Director.

"The Program Director will work to coordinate and supervise outreach programs in the visual arts, including children’s and adult art classes and workshops, visual art lectures, collaborations, and cross-disciplinary performances. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience building, marketing, and overseeing arts programs, acting as a community liaison, interacting with a variety of diverse populations, artists and government agencies. Superior grant-writing skills and knowledge of Spanish are also extremely desirable.

BA required, MA or MFA preferred. The AAC is a fast paced environment with a small staff that values flexibility and a team approach. This position includes benefits.

Send resume and cover letter to info@arlingtonartscenter.org or via fax to 703.248.6849. No phone calls, please."

dinner

"When I was a kid I heard these noises everynight when I stayed at my grandparents and she told me they were ghosts. I stayed up thinking about it."

"When I was older she told me they were raccoons."

"I asked her, 'Why'd you tell me there were ghosts in the attic,' and she said 'because I didn't want to scare you.'"

James Schneider

Corcoran's Contemporary (re)defined, redefined

UPDATE The corcoran website now reflects the change.

Alma Mater Love

I'm waiting for a Frank Stallone track

Frank Stella by Starlight - Patrick Gleeson

Excel is the new MSpaint

Danielle Aubert

(via Bezembinder.nl)

the truth bytes

The Libidinous Hack
2004

James got a chance to see Brandon Morse and again (after Heather) notes the sticky decisions of the digital artist. This is tough.

Morse's animations are built in node-based programs and exported to video. The resulting DVDs produce beatuiful but sometimes jagged animations. The black and white clean lines of Morse's animation sometimes muddled by this. The clean video boxes and installation by Conner don't help--they hold a high standard. The strange thing is Morse has nice LCD panels but the DVD format is interlaced and upconverts awkwardly to fill the panels (if you've ever seen a standard TV broadcast played on an HDTV, it's similar. A dvd looks better on an interlaced TV because it's native). What's possible at different tech levels for us, the bottom feeders, the digital art people:

DVD
720 X 482 interlaced, mpeg compression
static or looped video
$ or find one free on craigslist

refurbished mac mini
1024x768 uncompressed
static or looped video, run programs in real time
DVI/ VGA out
$$ or tell your mum you got a school project and it's real important it'll just be a month

G5
1280 x 1024 uncompressed or h.264
static or looped video, run programs in real time, sensor input with live manipulation
DVI / VGA out, s-video out
$$$$ or ask your in at gargosian. yeah right.

It comes to borrowing from those with money or equipment and a whole lot of generosity. For an installation with eight laptops I went to my college's mac lab -- the hosting gallery had one digital projector and one dvd player. Assume the gallery your working with has nothing and expect to shell out or ask around.

James suggests that these resources should be available through grants and the art buying folk of dc. Though there's no surplus cash floating around for non-digital artists, I think more support is needed. We may need to look to tech oriented sources--even sponsorship for venues and equipment loans. That gets sticky very quickly. I think digital will flesh itself as a medium as it becomes more cheap and available. Until then we may not see help from collectors or grants. Why buy a luscious plasma for us? They don't buy the paint for painters, they buy the paintings.

FULL DISCLOSURE and note of unstoppable generosity: The laptop with which I write this blog, apply to jobs, and (maximo) make art, was supplied by a recycling minded DC artist. So maybe we can sustain ourselves.

Munch

Huh

From Adam Gerard. Anybody know what's up?

WHAT'S that Metamorphosis thing just west of Chinatown?There's a big parking lot in front of the Renaissance Marriott on 9thStreet. The parking lot spans about one city block (going west to 10thSt). In the center of the parking lot is a concrete walkway that islined by fake, plastic grass and tall, metal polls holding signs that
are bent to slightly overhang over the walkway. On one side each canvas sign it reads, "Metamorphosis" and on the other side is a painting or a photo of some sort (each sign has a different picture).

There is a small garden on the north end of the walkway and a colorful entranceway on the other. And the parking lot, while large, black and boring, does have fun, chopped up green glass that marks each row of parking spots.