As a kid one of my favorite parts of thanksgiving was slicing that red jellied cylinder into machine like slices along the ridges, using the lid of the cranberry can. Though I always toyed with the idea of using cranberry jelly as a sculpting material i had never tried it, until today. After looking up some items in the Henry’s online collection my friend and I selected a few pieces and got to sculpting. Our first task was to try and recreate a piece from Muses in Niches, by Roy McMakin. (yea, click the like to see the original)This turned out well enough, so we attempted to do something a bit less can shaped – La Passante, by John Carl Ely. This proved to be quite a bit more challenging for us, especially since cranberry melts the more you handel it. This thanksgiving I invite you, dear hankblog reader, to play with your food – more specifically with your delicious can shaped cranberry jelly.
Pick your favorite  item, or one that you might find fun to sculpt out of cranberry,  from the Henry’s collection and  create your own delicious sculpture! When your done, wash off those sticky hands, take a photo of your masterpiece and send it to us!

You can email it or post it to our flickr page!

This hand turkey is too nice to keep to myself, and I thought some art-loving Hankblog readers might like to know – Western Bridge, closed for the Holiday weekend, reopening a week from tomorrow, December 3.

The Henry, however, is closed tomorrow only, and then open for regular old business Friday and through the weekend.

Have a great holiday.
We’re thankful that you’re reading this blog. We’re thankful for the amazing Roosevelt High School docents who led tours this morning for the most adorable group of kindergartners.
We’re thankful for The Gift Shop Presents: Presents – and all the Gift Shop installations.
We’re thankful for each other, our families, and the amazing artists we work with.

So, thanks!
Thank you! Hope your turkey is delicious!!

WESTERN BRIDGE CLOSED FOR THE HOLIDAY Western Bridge will be closed this weekend for the Thanksgiving holiday. We will reopen at noon on Thursday December 3, continuing our fall exhibition Parenthesis. Save the evening of December 9 for an evening with Charles Mudede, who will talk about his discovery of hip-hop as a teenager living in Zimbabwe. We wish you safe and happy festivities.

We’re showing the first Yes Men movie at the Henry Thursday, December 17.
See the new one this week at NWFF!

Yes Men Fix the World at NWFF – Nov 27 – Dec 03 (Tickets HERE)
(Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno, 2008, USA, 35mm, 89 min)

Chase Community Giving is a program run by Chase that will allow Facebook users to vote for local charities and non-profits, and help direct Chase corporate philanthropy dollars to eligible organizations in the following focus areas: education, healthcare, housing, the environment, combating hunger, arts and culture, human services, and animal welfare. The grassroots campaign aims to inspire a new way of corporate philanthropy.

The eligible charity receiving the most votes will be awarded $1 million, the top five runners-up will receive $100,000 each and the 100 finalists, including the top winners, will be awarded $25,000 each. Additionally, a special Advisory Board led by prominent national philanthropists will allocate $1 million to the nominated charities of its choice.

Friday, a new installation opened in The Gift Shop. Claire Cowie, Jason Hirata, and Sol Hashemi collaborated on The Gift Shop Presents: Presents.

“Anyone who wants to participate can make a gift, place it in the gallery, and choose one to take home. The gift exchange will continue during the Henry’s regular gallery hours, Friday November 20th through Sunday December 13th.”

Jenny Zwick received a REAL Chanel Suit!

Next up in the Gift Shop: Shaw Osha and Heide Heinrichs:

The Atlas of Gifted Ideas. Shaw and Heide need you!

An atlas is usually a collection of maps, charts and tables, most commonly of the earth’s geography, but there are also atlases of the solar system, moons and planets and things further out. In the end, an atlas is a collection of visual material and text on any subject of interest. We are longing for an atlas of gifted ideas.

Atlas is the brother of Prometheus. Prometheus plays with fire and Atlas has to hold up the skies; he creates space and separates the divine from everyday experience; his duty is not to mix up things and to keep the overview. We would encourage you to play with both of them: to burn your fingers and to walk out towards the divine.

We invite you to participate in a collaborative, artist-powered project called “The Gift Shop” at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, Washington. We are in charge of the space for three weeks, beginning December 18th. During this time ‘The Atlas of Gifted Ideas’ will unfold, with your gifted ideas illuminating the ceiling and walls. With a spirit of generosity and an openness to the contingency of chance we will bring together ideas in the form of drawings and poems: mingle them and give them away like new fortunes.

Please send us your drawing, image or poem to pass on, to position, to communicate, to travel and join ‘The Atlas of Gifted Ideas’.

For drawings and images: send a .jpg file in a resolution which would allow a black and white print 8 ½ x 11”.

For poems, send a simple word document.

The Atlas of gifted ideas will be a world in black and white.

All images/poems must be received by December 11th at the latest. Please send them to atlasofgiftedideas@gmail.com

The opening date of this constellation is December 18 at 7pm in the Gift Shop at the Henry Art Gallery. We would be happy to see you there.

Shaw Osha
Heide Hinrichs

Tuesday, December 1st DXARTS will be hosting a live electronics and solo voice performance with Yutaka Makino, Stelios Manousakis, Stephanie Pan at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center. The performance challenges traditional tehniques of composition  and plays off the idea of process and live performance in an way that is uncomprimisingly contemporary.The Program

Luciano Berio Sequenza III – for female voice | Stephanie Pan: voice
In Sequenza III the emphasis is placed on the sound symbolism of vocal gestures, on the ‘shadows of meaning’ that accompany them, on the associations and conflicts to which they give rise. Because of this, Sequenza III can also be seen as a study in musical dramaturgy whose prime concern is, in a certain sense, the relationship between the interpreter and her own voice. [L.B.]

Stelios Manousakis Fantasia On A Single Number – for digital feedback with live electronics
Fantasia On A Single Number is an open composition that takes its final form through live performance. The piece is composed for a live‐electronics instrument, designed as a complex dynamical sonic system which the performer guides into states of equilibrium, oscillation, chaotic behavior, noise and silence. It is based on digital feedback, set in motion by a single number which draws from the guts of the machine an intense and compelling stream of bursts, turbulence, drones and resonances. No other sound sources are used but real‐time manipulation of the number’s path within a synthetic space, thus revealing its emergent beauty as it populates a constantly shifting digital universe.

Our Lady Of Late: improvisations inspired by and excerpts from Our Lady of Late (1972) by Meredith Monk – for voice and wineglass | Stephanie Pan: voice and wineglass
Our Lady of Late is a study on the use of the voice as a pure and primal expressive instrument that communicates in a direct, visceral level, stripped of the layers and conventions established by cultural and societal norms. The performance incorporates both improvisations inspired by and excerpts from the 16‐movement piece by Meredith Monk of the same name, written in 1972.

Yutaka Makino The Blackest Flux – for live electronics
The Blackest Flux is an experiment toward abstraction of space/body. By using acoustic and psychoacoustic phenomena, it causes disorientation and a series of physical movements of sound masses over space.

Date and time: Tuesday, December 1st 2009 at 8.30pm
Location: Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center
Address: 4649 Sunnyside Ave. Seattle, WA
Tickets: $5 ‐ $15 sliding scale donation at the door

Well there isn’t a No Pressure Music Club, yet, but thanks to all of you who showed up last week for the sing-a-long  closing of I know, I know an installation by Jenny Zwick and Joe Park in the Henry’s Gift Shop. We were even lucky enough to get Joe and Jenny to come back for the occasion. It was truly delightful.

Western Bridge Director, karaoke expert, and loving husband (mine) Eric Fredericksen is rocking the mic tonight at On The Boards.
Call the box office now and get your tickets for this songfest/lecture freak hybrid.

More on SLOG and on Another Bouncing Ball.

“Join Eric Fredericksen (Western Bridge curator and karaoke expert) as he hosts a karaoke party while delivering a lecture on karaoke, the culture industry, and communal popular culture. Come grab a drink and get your songs in early: this lecture requires participation!  Show at 8pm. Karaoke and bar open at 7:30pm.  Note – this is a limited capacity show. Buy your tickets in advance to ensure you get a spot!  A second evening is planned for Mar 17, 2010.”

He’s good at lecturing, and at karaoke. I should know–I didn’t marry him for his looks.  I married him for his mad skills, illustrated here by his performance of “Maybe I’m Amazed” at OTB’s 30th Anniversary Fundraiser.

The Gift Shop Presents: Presents
SOL HASHEMI, JASON HIRATA and CLAIRE COWIE

OPENING Friday, November 20th 5 – 8 pm
and continuing through December 13th

The Gift Shop at the Henry Art Gallery
University of Washington, Seattle
Thu – Fri: 11 am – 9 pm
Sat – Sun: 11 am – 4 pm
Closed: Mons, Tues, Weds, & Nov. 26th

Sol, Jason, and Claire are bringing gifts back to the Gift Shop! They’re stocking the Gift Shop with presents they have made together and individually, along with contributions from their friends. During the three weeks of the exhibition anyone is invited to make a gift, bring it in, and exchange it for one they find. In the spirit of “white elephant” and “secret santa” games, this encourages speculation, anticipation, excitement (or disappointment?)—challenging each of us to confront our desires and expectations. What are you willing to give? What do you expect and hope for in return? This project examines the celebratory aspect of making art and giving, the element of surprise in getting presents and in collaborating, and the potential for new relationships and dialogue within our community.

The exchange of gifts will begin during the opening party this Friday the 20th from 5 – 8 pm. Anyone who wants to participate can wrap a gift, place it in the gallery, and choose one to take home. The gift exchange will continue during the Henry’s regular gallery hours, Friday November 20th through Sunday December 13th.

________________________________________
The Gift Shop Project # 2 of 6

This is the second in a series of artist-initiated projects which temporarily re-purpose the Henry Art Gallery gift shop. We have created something very much like an autonomous, alternative artist-run exhibition space off of the museum lobby. Goals include: involving a diverse and interesting group of artists; developing means and methods which acknowledge the contingent nature of this particular site; generating new understandings of what an exhibition can be; and enjoying the pleasure and energy generated by working together. Artists! You do not have to accept the context which you are given. Create your own context! gift.shop.project@gmail.com