Newsflash! The UW Parking Garage is free today – it’s a work holiday. That means the doors are open and you can park there WITHOUT PAYING $15!
Come on down! We’re open!

But we are closed tomorrow, yes indeed. Happy Independence Day. Do something liberating!

Save next Thursday for the Hedreen Gallery at Seattle University – this is going to be an electrifying evening.
The TM Sisters (pictured) are going to blow your mind.

July 9, 2009 7 – 10pm
For the opening night performance, the TM Sisters will be joined by Hooliganship and Extreme Animals.

(((sparks))) is a spatial investigation of interactive video works and a brand new live video performance by the TM Sisters. Enjoy electrifying live performances in the Lee Center’s theater by the TM Sisters, and joined by Extreme Animals and Hooliganship — OPENING NIGHT ONLY!

Click here for more information.

Special  Screening of  “TRIMPIN: THE SOUND OF INVENTION”
a new film by Peter Esmonde

…including exclusive, never-before-seen footage of Trimpin at work and play!
Trimpin will be present for a post-screening discussion.

Tickets are only $10 for Artist Trust members / $12 General
Available at: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/67350

All proceeds to benefit Artist Trust’s grant programs for innovative artists!
TRIMPIN: THE SOUND OF INVENTION is an amusing journey through the sonic world of an eccentric creative genius. Artist/inventor/engineer/composer Trimpin shuns the hype and hyperbole of the commercial art world – yet his freewheeling sculptures and outrageous musical experiments are cherished by museums all over the planet. Filmed over two years, this cinéma vérité documentary feature follows the artist/inventor as he devises a perpetual motion machine, builds a 20-meter tower of automatic electric guitars, and collaborates with the Kronos Quartet on an outrageous world premiere. The film will delight anyone interested in the mysteries, pitfalls, and sheer joy of creative experiment.

http://trimpin.blogspot.com/
http://www.trimpinmovie.com/

Last week’s announcement that Kodak will no longer make  Kodachrome film is no big surprise.

The Wall Street Journal says a proper goodbye, here to a medium that was employed and loved by many, including Nan Goldin, Dan Graham, Louise Lawler, William Eggleston, William Christenberry, and Joel Meyerowitz, among countless others. And on the WSJ’s Speakeasy – Kodachrome: A Cultural History – jumping from the immediate recognition – Paul Simon’s anthem, to the other great shout-outs this film’s received.

My favorite:

Elvis Costello’s “Watch Your Step” (1981)

When you’re kicking in the courtroom/And you’re drinking down the Eau de Cologne/And you’re spitting out the Kodachrome/You better watch your step.

The Seattle incarnation of  suddenly: where we live now opens this week.

Hannes Wingate

SUDDENLY: WHERE WE LIVE NOW
An Exhibition Exploring the Aesthetic Life of Cities

July 3-15, 2009
312 Occidental Avenue
Seattle, WA, 98104
gallery hours: July 5-15, closed July 4, 12-6 p.m. Free

suddenly: where we live now will be on view from July 3 through July 15, 2009 in a storefront space in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood. An opening reception with curator Stephanie Snyder, director of the Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery at Reed College, and participating artists Elias Hansen, Michael Hebb, Michael McManus, Hannes Wingate, and Molly Dilworth will be held at the space on Friday, July 3 at 9:00 p.m.

Visual artists exhibiting work in the Seattle iteration of suddenly include: Marc Joseph Berg, New York; Zoe Crosher, Los Angeles; Molly Dilworth, Brooklyn; Elias Hansen, Tacoma; Michael Hebb, Seattle; Hadley+Maxwell, Berlin; Michael McManus, Portland; Boris Sieverts, Frankfurt; and Hannes Wingate, Portland.

In addition, a bookstore has been created in the space, offering works by suddenly artists and participating writers: Fritz Haeg, Los Angeles; Frank Heath, Brooklyn; Anne Focke, Seattle; Lisa Robertson, San Francisco; Thomas Sieverts, Frankfurt; Stephanie Snyder, Portland; Matthew Stadler, Portland; Storm Tharp, Portland; and Oscar Tuazon, Paris.

suddenly was born of German urban planner Thomas Sieverts’s observation that “the shaping of the landscape where we live can no longer be achieved by the traditional resources of town planning, urban design, and architecture. New ways must be explored, which are as yet unclear.” suddenly seeks to imagine the possibilities of spaces and experiences that have an indigenous history (the parking lot, for instance), but that exist beyond historical definitions of city and countryside, and conventional material cycles of development and disuse. Through a myriad of objects, texts, and activities constructed as symbolic and strategic alternatives, the artists and writers in this project are re-imagining our relationship to the built and natural environment—its materials, textures and histories. suddenly explores the where we live now as an independent identity to be reshaped in the hands and minds of its occupants.

suddenly comprises a set of exhibitions curated by Stephanie Snyder, an annotated reader edited by author Matthew Stadler, and a series of additional publications and public events by a variety of suddenly artists and contributors. The exhibition projects began on June 29, 2008, in Portland, Oregon with Michael Hebb’s Corridor Project expedition to Ross Island—a culinary expedition onto to an uninhabited island in Portland’s Willamette River. suddenly has since evolved in various forms in projects in Oregon, California, New York, and now Washington, and will continue around the globe for the next few years. For additional information, including event listings and audio recordings, and to order project publications, visit: www.suddenly.org.

The visual art exhibitions and related projects of suddenly: where we live now are a collaborative initiative of the Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. www.reed.edu

The mission of the Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery is to enhance the academic offerings of Reed College with a diverse range of visual art exhibitions—both historical and contemporary—lectures, and colloquia. The Cooley Gallery is a secured, professional museum-quality exhibition space with environmental controls that meet the highest standards set by the American Association of Museums. The Cooley Gallery was established by a generous 1988 endowment from Sue and Edward Cooley and John and Betty Gray “in support of the teaching of art history at Reed College, as part of an interdisciplinary educational experience that strengthens the art history component of Reed’s distinctive humanities program.” In addition to its stated mission to support the teaching of art history, the Cooley Gallery works closely with the Reed College studio art faculty in order to bring art and artists to Reed that advance studio practice at the highest conceptual and material levels. Exhibitions are curated and organized by Stephanie Snyder ‘91, the John and Anne Hauberg Director and Curator, and often coordinated in collaboration with Reed faculty members and courses, with attention to the needs and interests of the larger Portland and Northwest arts communities. A schedule of three to four exhibitions during the academic year brings to Reed and the Portland community, work that “would not otherwise be seen in the region.”

Every Wednesday, the Henry staff meets. We talk about what’s coming up, new ideas, and plan new programs as a team – and often, we talk about The Big Picture. This morning, Henry Director Sylvia Wolf posed these questions:

What does it mean to be a risk-taking institution?
How do we take risks?
Why do we take risks?

No one is promoting the idea of risk for risk’s sake. It’s a big question, especially since it is one that is so tied up in the Henry’s  identity.  If we take risks all the time, and we’re totally comfortable with it – then it isn’t actually very risky anymore, is it? What are the new risks for the Henry? Could one risk be getting (and learning from) feedback in new ways and opening venues for dialogue and critique? We tried that with the MFA BrightKite Wall – but I think it’s going to take some getting used to before it actually works as meaningful dialogue. The lines are always open – Hankblog will publish your comments as long as they’re not spam. The Henry’s Twitter feed, Facebook, and Tumblr are all open for comments and questions. I’d love to hear your thoughts. What is a risk that you’d like to see the Henry take? What are some risks that the Henry’s taken that fell flat, from your perspective? What are some risks that you’d like to see the Henry take again?

I posed the question on our Twitter feed – to some very interesting responses – (sounds like Yerba Buena Center for the Arts had the same staff meeting as we did at the Henry today.) It’s pretty amazing how the Twitterverse works and how thoughtful – and inspiring – folks can be in 140 characters or less.
Want to follow the Henry on Twitter?

“Great staff meeting questions this morning! What does it mean for a museum to take risks? What would it mean for the Henry to take risks?”

1. PaulFraserWebb@henryartgallery Oh, and I’m not talking damp squib failure. More glorious going down in flames failure.about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck in reply to henryartgallery

2. 

   PaulFraserWebb@henryartgallery be willing to fail – embrace failure – and learn from it.about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck in reply to henryartgallery
3. 

   museumnerd@henryartgallery “Risk taking” for a contmporary art museum could be: exhibiting unestablished artists w no gallery representation.about 1 hour ago from mobile web
4. 

   tangdynasty@henryartgallery reevaluate most of the existing curatorial & museological paradigms – there’s no room for real risk or change any longerabout 1 hour ago from TweetDeck in reply to henryartgallery
5. 

   City_Arts@henryartgallery Addressing difficult, local issues through art. E.g. Wallinger’s installation at the Tate: http://tinyurl.com/2hv2umabout 1 hour ago from TweetDeck in reply to henryartgallery

7. 

   brookpete@henryartgallery Risk. To surrender entirely the production & curatorial control of exhibition to an unfamiliar constituency.about 1 hour ago from web in reply to henryartgallery
8. 

   tangdynasty@henryartgallery displaying art that ostentatiously and rigorously embraces and engages completely new systems or media….?about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck in reply to henryartgallery
9. 

   City_ArtsRT @henryartgallery: Ok — Your thoughts, what constitutes “risk-taking” for a contemporary art museum?about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck
10. 

    artbynemo@henryartgallery haha just being in the museum biz is the biggest risk there isabout 2 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to henryartgallery

Read ALL about it at http://suddenly.org/

The 2009 UW School of Art M.F.A. exhibition closes after this weekend. Today and tomorrow are you big chances to see it. It’s an excellent one and these students have worked very hard. See them at the Henry in the next 48 hours.
We’re open 11-4 today and tomorrow.

We are gearing up for another Projections program tomorrow, this one centered on current issues in contemporary photographic practice. We will hear from three fantastic Seattle artists — Margot Quan Knight, Vesna Pavlovic, and David Hartt — on their work before we head into discussion with visiting artist/curator Alex Klein. Klein edited the brand new compendium Words Without Pictures that compiles the essays, responses, and structured discussions from a year long series of online forums and live events at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Artists, scholars, critics, and curators all participated in the multi-faceted project.

Bring your credit cards, you might just want to take a copy home! Essays by Walead Beshty, Mark Wyse, George Baker, Charlotte Cotton, Alex Klein, and others. Conversations include the voices of Sarah Charlesworth, John Divola, James Welling, Sharon Lockhart, Amir Zaki, Allan McCollum, Amy Adler, Paul Graham, and many others. It’s certain to be a source book you’ll want on your shelf if you are interested in the latest developments around the medium of photography and the contemporary state of the photographic image.

Projections: Words Without Pictures is happening Thursday, June 18th, 6:30 in the Henry Auditorium. FREE for Henry members, $5 general admission.

See you there!