The Bright Existence and The Lamentable End of The Tom Museum.

This past Saturday I had the honor to be one of the very last official visitors at the Tom Museum over on the North Side. It was the closing reception, and local artist Tom Sarver was saying goodbye in preparation to move on to other things. If you're not familiar with this project, it originally started with a grant, and the support of the Mattress Factory. Tom had envisioned building an environment for his art, and keeping it open to the public. It was always a work in progress, and there was a large element of improvisation allowed by the concept. The building itself was simply a row house- a residence owned and rented out by the Mattress Factory's co-director, Barbara Luderowski. The initial plan called for the residency to last about a year, but it was extended for an extra 12 months, with Tom and the Mattress Factory becoming loose partners.

The facility itself was intimately-scaled, and filled to bursting with (often interactive) artwork. Sarver completed a mural on the front of the house that depicted a whimsical landscape of Pittsburgh itself. It was meant to capture the interest of passersby, and designed to be especially inviting. All along Sarver has tried to make the world of art more accessible to those with little familiarity or knowledge of it, and the Tom Museum served this purpose in an exemplary manner. Upon entering the front door the visitor made his way through an ever-evolving foyer called the "Universe Room", up-and-down some makeshift steps, and through another door into what would be considered the main gallery in an ordinary museum.

This "multi-purpose" room was the reception area for people who chose to kick up their feet and stay awhile. It also housed many of the numerous temporary exhibitions that Tom hosted throughout the last couple years- which included the cardboard contraptions of Doug Hill and "visionary" outsider Steve Smith. Some of the shows Sarver put together featured Small Works, Artist Made Books, and Mix Tapes. There was even a permanent installation by Jeremiah Johnson in the attic. At the other extreme, Sarver constructed his "Earth Pond" in the basement. This was meant to describe the various states of humanity's interaction with the environment, and included such pieces as the Island of Barren Wasteland and the Island of Pristine Wilderness.

Rounding out the offerings was the second floor, which included the Puppetry Archives Room and a mini-stage for the periodic performances Sarver would produce and share. This was in many ways the spiritual center of the Tom Museum, as its proprietor first gained notoriety in the 'burgh by co-founding and organizing the Black Sheep Puppet Festival. This annual event has brought significant joy to an ever-growing group of adults and children for nearly a decade. The Puppetry Archives shared the modest space with MIMA (The Miniature Museum of Modern Art) which (of course) was exactly what it sounded like, with little dioramas sunk into the wall. Alberto J. Almarza was responsible for that extended exhibit.

Sarver's one-room living quarters, and the facility's only bathroom were also on the second floor. The former was the only space that was not open to prying eyes. This was no doubt a boon for Tom, as he realized just how difficult it was to live within the extremely accessible environs of the Tom Museum. Nevertheless Sarver was upbeat and gracious as I spoke with him in his back courtyard last weekend. His greatest joy has been exposing a lot of people to a lot of art. The month of June will be dedicated to dismantling the innards of his Museum (keep an eye open for a possible closing sale), and the rest of his Summer is scheduled as a transition period of relative inaccessibility. Sarver has received a scholarship from SUNY-Purchase in Yonkers, NY to earn his MFA. He will receive many Western PA wishes of good luck upon his exit.

Of striking a balance on the road.

One of the things that I was very conscious of in Chicago was wanting to make sure that it didn't feel altogether like a "work" trip. Ever since I started taking my photography seriously (i.e. when I began to exhibit and sell it) I have been compelled to make travel first and foremost about taking images home with me. Taking that approach has (at times) had a substantial payoff, both in practical terms and in lending an extra dimension of depth to my experience. I'm glad I've been involved in that type of "work". But it can become obsessive and intrusive as well.

Truthfully, I have always felt the need to run around and see as much as I can whenever I visit a new place. I get a nagging sense that I might never return, and I don't want to "miss out". At times this has been an issue for my companions on such trips. Having researched a place to come up with an itinerary, I get frustrated if I encounter competing agendas. This isn't generally a problem with M., as she understands and respects my priorities. She's perfectly happy for us to go our own ways whenever we disagree about what we individually desire. But others have interpreted my vacation-approach as a slight against their own values, or a commentary on my friendship with them. I've become more diligent about explaining this issue beforehand, and trying to monitor situations that might elicit inner or outer conflict. I feel like I negotiated that well this summer, in both NYC and Chicago. Of course you'd probably have to consult L. or JM to get the whole story.

L. and I actually had an interesting, protracted discussion about individual strategies for engaging art museums. He told me that he had been affected by a suggestion he read in a Jeanette Winterson book. Her contention is that so many people file through the halls of great art collections, and give cursory glances at so many great works of art. They have only a set amount of time to spend, and so they move quickly through, and often get overwhelmed and overstimulated long before they have seen everything. Winterson suggests finding one work that is particularly interesting, and sitting down in front of it for a long time- perhaps even an hour. She says that, in this way, one can have a deep fulfilling experience, and therefore get closer to the true spirit and intention of art appreciation. After all the artist took hours and/or days to create the work... is it so much to ask that we invest a substantial amount in considering its values and meaning?

My initial reaction was that this approach didn't seem like a particularly useful way to manage the finite resource of time. If I am in a new city, I want to get a broad range of experiences in order to synthesize my thoughts and feelings about the place. I can't imagine traveling for many hours for a single shot at seeing what the Metropolitan Museum (or MOMA or the Smithsonian, etc.) has to offer, only to spend the bulk of my visit contemplating a single image. There's no way I could keep myself from feeling some vague sense of dissatisfaction and regret because of a perception of missed opportunity.

Yet at the same time, I think it's important for me to give fair consideration to Winterson's idea. I do see how it could be useful to devote one's attention to certain works that appear particularly appealing (for whatever subjective reason). This seems like the natural way humans process information anyway. I have no problem making choices about what I believe I can pass up, and what things I should invest time in. I do think it's important to empower ourselves to make such discriminations. There is no rational way we can give equal time to each and every piece we encounter. And in order to reach any true measure of depth with something, we have to be willing to pause and give into an interactive introspection.

Somewhere there is an ideal balance of quantity and quality. If we confine ourselves to committing all of our resources to the things that already appeal to us, then we risk the repression of our own growth and evolution. But on the other hand, if we try to pack too much in- we face the danger of shutting off completely to the very meaningful ways in which it is possible to experience an individual piece of art (or anything else for that matter).

Chicago Trip: Arrival.

The drive to Chi-town was carefree, but monotonous. I took Route 80 across both Ohio and Indiana. In both states Rte. 80 is the turnpike, and there's not a whole lot to look at. The OH stretch at least has regular Starbucks joints- so you can get all hyped up on caffeine and watch the cornfields passing by. I played with the radio until it sickened me, and then resorted to the CDs I had brought along. Until I actually hit Chicago, the only "city" I caught a glimpse of was Gary, Indiana. That place looks like a rotten shithole (my apologies to its residents). Other than that it was mostly sky and crumbling farms. At least I moved through it quickly. I didn't hit much traffic until I could see the Chicago skyline, and then I sat for 45 minutes in the throes of rush hour. It was an overcast day, and the pallor of the clouds gave the city an especially industrial look.

My friend L. lives on a pleasantly tree-lined street in the neighborhood of Andersonville. I was surprised to find street parking almost immediately outside his apartment. The place is spacious, with hardwood floors and lots of windows. The rent is quite affordable, considering its proximity to a few vital business districts and the safety of its streets. I got a good impression of the North End of Chicago right away. From what I've seen, it's city living on a very human scale. many of the neighborhoods have retained an authenticity of character. Although it is clear that city planners are pushing for rapid gentrification or the inner city, they seem to be doin a half-assed job of it. Last night L's co-worker gave us the lowdown on Mayor Daley's corrupt approach to governance. With it's old-school Democrat approach to politics, it has a lot in common with Pittsburgh.

After getting settled in last night, L. and I went for grub. We landed at a small bar/eatery in the Bucktown section. "Handlebars" has that hipster-cum-anarchic-bike-culture vibe that would make the clientele of the Quiet Storm (back in the Burgh) quite happy. I was a bit dismayed to open the menu and realize L. had brought me to a vegetarian restaurant. I sat baffled and tried to figure out what I might order. I ended up with black bean tostadas and smoked gouda mac-and-cheese. And you know what? It really wasn't half bad. The rather feeble-looking patrons surrounding us looked happy and natural in their element. If you aren't much of a carnivore, then I can recommend the place without reservation. I do have one disclaimer- You have to dig a bit through the drink menu to find a "real" beer as the place caters to the wheat beer crowd. After we were done there, we went to L.'s workplace and told stories at the bar as the restaurant shut down for the night.

Today L. had to tqake care of some business downtown, so I walked around for a bit among the tall buildings. I was shocked at the relative absence of hustle-and-bustle. And I was saddened to see a Hard Rock Cafe and Disney-fied Rainforest Restaurant in the center of the city. i guess that sort of thing is inevitable now in the big cities- especially in the wake of the castration of Times Square, NYC. If they are going to offer a de-fanged hyper-commercialized version of nightlife for the whole family, then they might as well come up with something particular to the history of Chicago. I don't understand the people who want to travel to a new place merely to experience a homogenized cartoon of somewher altogether different. Why can't they keep crap like that out in the suburbs, and at least make a suitable mockery of whatever authenticity the specific city truly offers? Wait a second... was the first Hard Rock in Chcago? If so, I take it all back.

Before departing for this trip, I had made a list of museums that I was interested in checking out. So we set off for the Museum of Science and Industry. I had read that they had a display of cross-section cuts of actual human beings (predating the recent Body Works traveling sideshow). That sounded compelling. We should have known better as soon as we pulled into the attached parking garage, and were asked to pay $12 just to keep our car there. They rope people in by enticing kids to badger their parents to see the OMNIMAX movie on dinosaurs (or whatever), and each and every disgruntled father has to shell out this exorbitant parking fee before he even gets to pay the $27 adult admission. When we got inside we saw the huge banners for the CSI (the TV show) spectacle, and the mass of sheeple, and we decided to just at the $12 and get the hell out of there. I swear that every science center in every American city offers the exact same slick-modern-day-tourist-trap diversion. We drove to the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum instead.

The NVVAM offers three floors of artwork by veterans. They have both permanent collections and temporary exhibits. I have always been drawn to "outsider art", and considering my long-held fascination with the Vietnam War, this was a natural destination. Today they had a "Works on Paper" show, which contained a variety of autobiographical visual pieces by artists across a range of skill levels. The curators give the creators a chance to write something to accompany each piece, and many of them included anecdotes about the terms they served incountry. As one might expect, the totality of the work contains a lot of emotional confusion, violence, pain and loss. But unlike what I'm used to seeing in canonical modern art exhibits, there is an extraordinarily personal depth of feeling that transcends technique.

I've always believed that the the American involvement in Vietnam taught many people lessons about the moral ambiguities and entrenched complexity of war. For awhile it was almost a cliche that the Vietnam War forever changed our nation's psyche. The recent conflict in the Middle East has made me question whether or not anybody still remembers the 1960's and 70's. I was pleased to see that the curators of NVVAM see very strong parallels between what is happening now in Iraq and what happened in Vietnam. They have included several sections in the museum dedicated to the work of Iraqi War veterans. I think it would be great for our current "leaders" to take a tour of the NVAAM. Perhaps our president and VP could gain a little insight into an essential part of our history- a place and time that they avoided because they had more "pressing concerns".


*Note: I apologize for the lack of links in these posts. I'm writing on a MAC laptop, and Blogger.com has a much more limited interface on this system, and thus a lot of the tools I rely on are unavailable.

Review Of The Keny Marshall Show @ Space

Adam Grossi has a review of the Keny Marshall show that both me and Merge love @ Space, downtown. It was originally printed in the City Paper and is now on the Pittsburgh Art Review website.

"This level of access into ordinarily inaccessible technology is a driving force for Marshall’s work, an aesthetic of transparency he shares with contemporary DIY technicians like L.A.- based artist Tim Hawkinson. Marshall is motivated, to quote his artist’s statement, by a critique of the “increasingly invisible world that technology inhabits.” For Marshall, the unveiling of high-tech mechanisms also provides insight into their ideological constructions: the framework of thought that propels their creation. In a world hell-bent on microchips, nanotechnology and deceptively smooth plastic shells to conceal it all, Marshall’s approach is a playful protest against our rarely questioned immersion in man-made environments we can’t attempt to understand."

Read the whole review here. The web site is trying very hard to get more contributors.

Apophenia continues through December 31st at SPACE Gallery , 812 Liberty Ave., Downtown. 412-325-7723

Creeps I Know Was Creepy

Well, not that many people showed up for creeps I know, but we had quality time and some really good creep stories. Merge, had a few real life personal ones that were first class. Also, a guy called the dirty poet was there with his mom ( wow being a creep in front of your mom! ) and had a fun little one. He also left us with a print out with some little poem gems that I wished he had read.

Here's one that fits my brain.

Halloween Parties are the best

mmmm
women dressed up like sluts
or witches---
magic sluts

or heres punchline

Punchline

the 20th century
a hundred years of surreal slauter and systematic savagery
from mustard gas trenches of world war one to neighbor-on-neighbor machetes of Rwanda
with Nazi bake offs and Hiroshima in between
remember the 60's? body counts on TV every night?
more people murdered per decade
than breathing in previous centuries
the 20th century
has for a punchline a simple question
put by a man famous for being a televised punching bag
cant we all just get along?

tell me Rodney-- what do you think?

(thank god we got our shit together in the 21st century )

Jean McClung told a scary family story that goes back to West Virginia
One of Merge's two is told on his blog and is the kind of story that should come with a description and APB.

One reason, i think hearing about other people's creepy or bad behavior is too get that feeling of-- ( wow, I'm not as bad as that ) and that was the rush I got. It was a kind of literate and facinating version of Jerry Springer and it was great.

Interview with an Art Teacher. By Merge Divide

Living in Pittsburgh, and trying to continue doing artwork can be a tricky proposition. On one hand, you have the advantage of a very low cost of living. Conceivably you can work part time in the service industry, or do another kind of piecework, and be able to meet some basic costs... while continuing to do the work that sustains you. That can work for awhile, but as you get older and start to make more commitments, you may be drawn to a lifestyle that requires more in the way of financial reources. So what do you do when you need health insurance and a retirement account? For many, the idea of teaching art becomes an attractive proposition. Today I decided to talk to a friend who has successfully explored that option, and present that conversation in interview form. For reasons that may or may not become evident, we have decided to protect his identity. He will be assuming the initials "cv" for this purpose.


MD: You gotta bear wiith me here, c, this is as new to me as it is to you. Why don't we start out with the artwork you do... what medium do you work in, and how was your involvement in the arts developed?

CV: I'll begin with how I got started painting, which was with my mom at a young age. She did the whole art school thing in the late 60's and failed at making any attempt in the money department post graduation, so became a stay at home mom until I was about 10 when she began selling real estate. She inspired in me to work in watercolor which is one of my prefered method of color applications. I told you about my mom because when I began drawing skulls and was into the whole skateboard culture of my early teens she decided to "squash every artistic bone in my body" (she told me this in a heart to heart shortly after I graduated from college). Well as with most efforts to dissuade a persons thinking in using negative influences it failed miserably for her and I was a sort of terror to her during my adolescence, getting tattooed at 16 and still drawing lots of dark angry stuff.
Sorry for the tirade there, I suppose its a bit of a sore spot still.... anyhow I like working with portraits of people not necessarily idealized as the "a-typical artists model" , homeless people, homo-erotic, beer can cowboys, modern religious mystics, etc..

MD: So you went ahead anyway and got a formal arts education?

CV:Actually, I got a degree in Environmental studies/Eco-psychology due to meeting influental people on a student exchange in N. California, namely Judi Bari who was one of the main anti-old growth logging organizers of the 21st century. But thats a whole other bag. After I was working mostly with troubled teens in alternative to jail programs and group homes for about 5 years after college I decided to go back to school for art education. I origally went to I.U.P for art education, but fucking hated Indiana, hence student exchange in N. cali and change of directions. I did a post bachelorate program at Carlow College here in Pittsburgh to get certified in Art Ed.

MD: That's a fairly radical transition- from eco-politics to arts education. Did you reach some defining moment when you realized you'd try to be an arts teacher? What specifically inspired that decision?

CV: Dana, my friend and partner in a wilderness trip for at risk teens and I did a project where we took Eric Drooker images that had to do with environmental and social degredation and presented them to the kids and had them talk about what they meant and how they made them feel. It was actually pretty amazing the responses and life experiences these mostly city kids had with these images and also with scenes from their own lives. I guess I always sort of had idealistic visions of my perfect job and it had to do with art and teaching and kids. Am I now living this as an arts educator in public schools.... ? Absolutely not. Beauracracy is slippery little worm that likes to weasel its way into nice ripe fruit.

MD: Is that a simile or a metaphor? I like it. So let's get into the nitty gritty then. It's obviously not what you thought it would be. Can you narrow whatever your dissatisfaction is into a few points?

CV: Metaphor. Due to the basic assumption that school is meant to be broken down into conveinent little compartments (subjects) and organized systmatically (40 minute periods) it is a challenge to say the least to incorporate a deeper meaningful experience while shuffling the student body as a whole down the conveyor belt of assimilation. Basically, its really hard to gain any sort of balance while seeing 600+ children a week. I teach elementary art so alot of my time is eaten up preparing examples and assisting students who are having trouble, re-introducing the lessons, and re-teaching steps involved in the making of whatever project it is we're working on. Now I teach in two schools, one has 5 minutes of prep time between specials (art/gym/music) the other has 0, thats right zero. Once one class is over, the next class is waiting lined up in the hall and shuffles in without a chance for me to breath. This creates a very hectic situation and I'm currently trying to "slow things down" , but the nature of the child is that they are sponges and work very fast/ pick up new ideas and so I also am trying not to stifle this beginners knowledge enthusiasm. On top of this the leadership of some administrators is lacking thereof. Meaning that they don't like their job or their life or both and basically are not such a supportive rung in the heirarchical ladder of leadership. Also, public education is becoming more and more of a hoop to jump through with teachers needing to be more educated (which I support as long as theres tuition reimbursement from the schools) and national standarized testing which soon art too will have to participate in if they have their way (which I do not support).

MD: Hold on there... do you really anticipate nation or statewide standards for arts education? I kinda think that they won't be able to find the funds to even develop them. But if they did... what would be the process? Who would be writing those standards, and how would they be assessed? The very subjectivity in the nature of art would seem to prohibit it, don't you think?

CV: Not really, I think its too open ended as a subject, but I've heard that to authenticate the art education experience they would be justified to incorporate art related vocabulary and history as part of the test for "art". Now standarized tests are primarily coming out of Princeton where they supposedly have hand picked "top" educators from diverse backgrounds, but in reality these tests are classist in therir scope from the terminology and wording of the very questions that they build these tests upon. It is proven that students score exeptionally higher after taking test prep classes which in most situations clue the students in on the thinking put in the the questions at hand and the answers they are looking for. Many of the questions are worded in a way that multiple answers could be right, but one is extra right. Or terminology that students from the suburbs or countryside might understand, but city dwelling ones would get thrown for a loop just in the vocabulary used within the context of the question. Its all about trickery and learning "their" way of thinking, which is a bunch of classist bullshit. And yes, MD, the subjectivity of art is lost when you try to pin it down in a bunch of historical facts and personalized ideas. History is written by the ones who win the wars, whether it be in the arts realm or weaponry. What would a history book look like if Native Americans had a say in our "heroes of the past" or look at the times of Van Gogh, he wasn't "realized" until long after his death.

MD: That is horrifying. It completely contradicts the purposes of art. The idea works counter to the history of the development of art. And there is a tie-in too, with the accepted structure and paradigms that seem to be pushed in MFA programs... that's bad enough, but now it's gonna be integrated into arts education for children? Talk about stifling possibility.

CV: And Bingo was his name-o... From my perspective as an art educator dealing with young children it is my sole responsibilty to make that 40 minutes some of the most exciting moments they will experience in the school setting. I'm constantly preoccupied with working out how to inspire atounding creativity and personal decision making/critical thinking within my classes. I want them to follow directions, but also I encourage twists to my lesson plans and their own influx of ideas into whatever we are doing. Thats fine that you followed directions, but how is it YOURS. I want all the projects to look different and I constantly tell them that if adults could recapture the magic of childhood they would, but we rarely can and therefore there is a reason kid art looks like kid art and when adults try to capture that whether its Basquiat or our own Kellstadt their is something magical within it. Something we automatically gravitate towards and want to try to interpret.
I am lucky in the fact that for the most part administrators leave me alone because kids like my classes and we produce good looking art.

MD: Being involved in education, but not arts education... I have always had this idealized vision of the arts teaching position. Those guys always seem to be chillin' in their own private neverland. At least in the high school, art is an elective course. The kids in that room chose to be there. And so they seem much more in their own element. And the art teacher is there with, like, Joy Division quietly streaming through their computer speakers. And they get to come to school in casual wear. Ya know, administrators don't have a freakin' clue what "art is". Generally (I would assume), they'd be keeping their paws off of your instruction. Of course that is what makes the whole "standards debacle" so problematic. The idea that we've come so far in that dirtection is scary. Anyway... I have another question I'm curious about. How does having the position you have in a particular community affect the decisions you make in displaying your personal art? What kind of considerations predominate?

CV: Well... Alot of sexually oriented or graphically dark artwork I've been straying away from not because I don't want to make it, but because I don't want to be associated with it in this small community. For the most part I make whatever I want and am not too concerned with having shows and so forth, so some may say i'm not much of a "real" artist. I don't really feel like I need to make art for any other reason than that I want to frickin' make something, whatever that may be. As an adult (shudder) I feel as though I have to watch my back and not get fired for something avoidable, ie. I wear long sleeves to cover my tats and don't really clue anyone in at work when I may show artwork or have something else going on. I'd like to keep my professional and personal life seperate, but in Pittsburgh is hard. I'm running into kids I teach more and more, but I suppose the kids I may run into at such functions would have pretty cool parents, and maybe not...

MD: Well... not to end the interview on an ominous note, but I read recently about an art teacher who was fired because she posed top-less for a fine art photographer. Of course the administration said she was let go "for performance reasons". Yeah, yeah... you and I know that's not the case. Anyways, thanks for taking the time to do this with me, and maybe we'll continue this conversations some other time.

CV: A real pleasure my friend. Thanks.