mmm…  this tangle of stuff just hits my aesthetic tastebuds in the right place.

I had a few helpers at the RE-aRT studio last OdD SaTUrdAy, and got them to take some Art of Found pictures, too:

Batman is fighting the scary purple tentacles, and dodging the dangerous metal spirals!  (photo by Jennifer Jarding)

And here we have an obelisk with a face: the personality of the tree coming through, contradicting the squareness with a deep story… (photo by Shane Roach)

And this is an ATEN success story.

I posted a request on the network for help building a bottle wall, including one “expert” in some form of construction to consult with me before the build day.  A member forwarded the post to his nephew, concrete builder Paul Adam, who was interested in the project and in the idea of ATEN and contacted me.  He ended up coming over and answering all my questions and more, as well as moving a bunch of heavy rocks into the shape of a foundation.  In return, I am telling everyone I know to call him if they need fine concrete work done (hardscape, hearth, shower, etc.)!

Two other ATEN members volunteered to help with the build, and one brought along an extra helper, so we were set!  Throughout the day, I was reminded of one important reason why I like to collaborate — because it is more likely that the right questions will be asked.  For example, I would have totally forgotten to document the process if Diane hadn’t reminded me!  I emphasized at the beginning that this was an experiment, so as a result, everyone’s full brain was engaged, thinking of how to make this structure a success.

Mike, Charlotte, and Diane.

We worked from 11 to 4 with a lunch break in the middle.

3 parts sand, one part Portland cement, one part lime + enough water to make it like smooth peanut butter!

Slopping the mortar on the wall (with gloves!) was surprisingly fun. The texture reminded Charlotte of cookie dough.

This picture is before I smoothed the surfaces and wiped clean all the bottles at 10:13pm.

The wall/bench is currently half-way done.  We decided to stop for it to dry before adding more weight.  I also decided to add some wire mesh into the next mortar layer and in the sides, to reinforce the strength.  Finish day will be Feb. 4th.

**BACK STORY**

I’m not sure when my neighbors started saving bottles for me, but it back was in 2010.

A few large parties plus the regular flow of consumption yielded a handsome collection before too long, and Then…

We had enough where it became time to figure out how to clean those labels off.

The internet do-it-yourself-ers said, “for sure, use Oxiclean”!

So we soaked them in warm buckets, peeled and scrubbed with rubber gloves, rinsed in the kiddee pool.  It’s so fun being outside!  Weston observed, and emptied more bottles; Fernando took pictures:

The start of 2011 brought unemployment to Chad.  For 3 1/2 months, he had extra time on his hands, so he clocked in to work at the recycling center.  The repetitive chore was transforming our pile into a sorted, clean collection, and probably helping with his sanity, too.

When Chad went back to work, the bottle-cleaning factory pretty much shut down, but we already had quite a stockpile of usable bottles.  They sat and waited…

**  THANKS **

I would like to thank Bunny White for encouraging me to do something with the bottles “Now!”  Also of course to all the helpers who worked on this project: Chad, Paul, Charlotte, Mike, Diane, and Katarina.  Thanks to my neighbors, Josh, Johnny, Weston, Christina, and all their friends, for donating bottles!  For inspiration, I would like to thank Scott Webel from the Museum of Ephemerata, Susan Maynard of Spunky Monkey Ranch (now Further Farm), The Orange Show and Beer can House in Houston, Vince Hanneman of the Cathedral of Junk, the Buddhist temple-builders in Thailand, Earthship-makers, and all the folks who posted information on the internet for me to find out how easy this is.  This project is also completed in the honor of someone who designs and builds with light in mind: my brother-in-law, architect Brett Rhode.

2608B Rogers Ave. 78722

This Open House is especially for the Austin Time Exchange Network — members and new members. (We’ll do an orientation to ATEN at 4:00, so you can join up!)

I have long been dreaming of having bustling Work Days with all sorts of people using this space around the duplex I live in as a laboratory of creative exploration, documentation, and transformation. There’s just so much to do! It is a place of freedom as well as challenges, somewhere you can hang out until you find inspiration.

So, what is it again? Well, I have a hard time choosing one explanation. It’s a collection spot for certain kinds of “junk”. There’s a studio, a puppet stage area, a yard, a sweet dog, and lots of cats. The cats are semi-wild, as is the studio.

Some activities that take place here (past, present, future) include: stencil art, scrap wood construction, bottle-building, tinkering to invent, sign-making, garden-starting, mural-painting, stuff-swapping, wig-making, lamp-shade designing, quiet contemplation, cat observation, shade-structure inventing, botanical and other environmental studies, drawing 101, and videos galore.

What I really want to see is: different people learning and teaching, individuals transforming found materials, and video/photo crews documenting change.

Looking for collaborators of all skill levels who want to be part of the Odd Saturdays team!

And if you join the Austin Time Exchange, I can “pay” you in Hours.

After Luke (our Participant #1  in the Social art Experiment which is “Odd Saturdays”) tinkered awhile to invent a fantastic use for glass bottles, he spent a lil time in the Studio, tidying up and doodling with the special treasures.

the objects in the studio have personalities and prefer sitting next to their friends

This guy's Surprised To Be Alive.

a pirate... (w/reflection)

An Albert Einstein cyborg.

Chad came out for awhile and SORTED.  He managed to pop open some deep pockets of time-accumulation, and then he took some scientific-ish shots of these details:

As it was already a hot day, salad with hard-boiled egg and cran-rasp. spritzers were had by all.

In the afternoon, SIGN-PAINTING was undertaken as a serious motion to advance the cause of RE-aRT.  Unfortunately for Luke (or fortunately, if he’s into action-adventure scenarios), the master list of JOBS changed

after he had already begun painting.  The term palimpsest was discussed.  The list continued to change long after Luke had to journey forth into the rest of his day.

...work-in-progress...

I enjoyed the day very much.   I became re-aware of how much work there is to do, which is invigorating.  And I made this picture:

**           )_(        **          =_=          **           `+`  in other news, CURRENTS is updated w/the current PRESS RELEASES.  cHeck it oUT.

(check back later for video updates)

you're on a path; you're about to see something...

YOU'RE ABOUT TO SEE SOMETHING

{ahb}

I really feel like rambling in a free-associative way, but I’m beginning to think I should funnel that sort of thing into performance art. (By the way, the next The Lost Art appearance will be a short thing at Emergency Casserole @ 4:30pm, and after that. . .  May 7th at Co-Lab.)

On the other hand. . .       why,   where did that hand go?     Hand?      Hand?

Oh yes, I have GREAT NEWS!  After long last, and after writing “I need an editor” over 20 times a month, on to-do lists and notes-to-self laying discretely all over the house, I have finally hired an Editor of my very own, Mr. Chad Hopper, who has so many good ideas he really ought to work as a “creative consultant”.  As a result, I’ve gotten an Assignment!  woo-hoo!  Next up, we’ll figure out a deadline for that assignment.

I think this means I’m headed towards some sort of self-publishing project cycle (until my giant boxes of paper scraps are obliterated).  See, it is a matter of health.  I can’t hold onto things forever, or I’ll be buried alive.  Plus, the beauty within these collections is worth sharing, in some way or another.

For now, the bi-annual Journal will go under the name suggested by my editor: ARTFORMATION.

see you soon.

1| Take an adult Hip Hop class at Heirloom Dance Studio | Thursdays at 7:00PM, $10.00

2| Check out Time Machine by the Red Light Variety Show at the VAC | February 11^th, 8pm – 11pm Click here for more info.

3| Check out a new Idaho based project titled Searching For Quartzburg and listen to audio from, Billy O Flynn: Queen of The Caves. Click here for more info.

4| Make a visit to BSU Visual Arts Center and check out Fresh Air. Click here for more info.  

5| Take a day trip to the Sun Valley Center for the Arts and attend the Bigfoot Expert Lecture. | Thu., Feb. 10, 6:30 p.m. Click here for more info.  

6| Take the kids to Re-Art: Culinary Arts | Sat., Feb. 12, and Sun. Feb 13th. Click here for more info.

7| Buy some local art at Valentines for Aids, at the Flying M Coffee House | Feb. 3-13 Click here for more info.

8| Meet Poet Derrick Brown and Musician Thomas Paul at the The Rose Room | February 12th, door at 7pm, Show at 8pm. Click here for more info. 

9| Check out Opera Idaho’s, Madame Butterfly at the Egyptian Theater | Feb. 18^th at 7:30pm  Click here for more info.

10|  Apply for Modern Art 2011, one of Boise’s most unique art events. Click here for more info.

11 | Get your game on, at the Chaos Contest- Boise’s newest game show at Fatty’s Bar. | Feb. 23rd 8pm-10pm Click here for more info.

12 | Check out the new artist Co-op, Green Chutes or try Salt Tears- a cafe located in Green Chutes. Click here for more info.

13 | Visit the Visual Arts Collective in Garden City and check out the Patchworks Exhibit by Eliza Fernand. Click here for more info.

14 | Take a class at Boise Art Glass | Introduction Flamework, February 26^th-27^th 10am-6pm both days. Click here for more info.

15| Drop in anytime between noon and 3pm with the kids, for a free hands-on art workshop at the Boise Art Museum. | Every Last Saturday of the month. Click here for more info.

Hơ, HSM có chíu trên đít xờ ni muh, đi coi chi tốn, đi nghe nhạc điện tử của 2 nghệ sĩ nào đó bên Đức đi, ở Parkson.

MÌnh hem nói là ở Parkson nào hết, vì mìn đinh ninh là chị í bít chỗ nào.

SS mới đề nghị: để tau qua chở m đi

Oh yeh, muốn gì em cũng chiều!! keke

cuối cùng là ko đi coi phinh, o đi coi ca nhạc điện tử, mà đi Bệt !

Bệt tiền thân là Nếp, nghe đồn hai chị em chủ quán hay ho lắm nên cũng muốn đi coi thủ xem sao …(giông snhu đi xem sở thú vậy nhỉ!!? ^^)

Đến nơi thì cô chị mắc đẻ nên nhượng quán lại cho Bệt.

sàn gỗ, đi cót két tê răng, bàn ghế thấp sập ngồi bệt mà, bàn có khắc bàn cờ và con chuồn chuồn làm bà Hòa mê tít thò lò,

giá cả sàn sàn 45 – 50k buổi tối, buổi sáng thì giá bằng 1/2 ,

quán chỉ có một phòng 2 gian, bàn xếp la liệt, khách ngồi ko la liệt lắm vì hôm đó hình như hơi mưa. được cái ngồi dựa tường ôm gối, nghe nhac trữ tình thì cool hết chỗ nói.

ca sĩ 3 người 2 năm 1 nữ, và một guitarist. chủ yếu là dòng nhạc trữ tình, ballad tiếng anh nữa. ko nhớ hết tên ca sĩ, chỉ nhớ anh ca sĩ ốm giọng rất mượt mà, anh ca sĩ hơi mập và đầu tóc lãng tử thì ko nên hát nhạc việt ,và chị ca sĩ duy nhất thì lại rất giống Alicia Keys, giọng hát cũng xử lí tốt.

quán cũng tạo một nét thân tình cho khách đến thưởng thức. vừa hát vừa trò chuyện. dĩ nhiên hát nhìu hơn nói..^^

nước uống thì ko ngon cho lắm, vì là phòng trà mà, nên ko thích trà lắm, uống thử trà đặc sản của quán nhâm nhi với mứt gừng nhưng thiệt tình là ko ngon.  Được cái tách trà cũng có hình con chuồng chuồng, cái menu cũng có hình con ch/ch, đến cái hũ đựng bill cug có hình con ch/ch. hehe

9.30 am

đang ngồi ở casbah
vì hứa đi vài lần mà đến hôm nay mới đi được.

gửi xe ở đối diện cổng quán, đi vô khoang 10m, thì gặp cái cổng khôn giống như bất kỳ cái cổng nào, thì đó là cổng của quán, đặc điểm nhân jdang thứ 2: có cái rèm bằng chuỗi hạt xanh lè. toilet bên dưới – hem có gì đặc sắc, lên cầu thang tương đối vừa 1 người đi, tùm lại là quán xanh lè, rất hợp với màu áo IVC !!!

Mình ngồi ngay cửa sổ mé bên trong, đằng sau là mảng tường ghi chữ Phạn ( điều răn của Phật chắng!!?) nghe đồn quán có tiết mục múa bụng bủi tối, hỏi chị nhân viên”em học múa bụng xong rùi vô đây biểu diễn kiếm tiền đc hem!?”

espresso 30k, rẻ hơn bên la fenetre de solei, nhạc thì na ná, tiếng tây ban nha hay tiếng ý gì đó.

Trên thành cửa sổ có trang trí bằng mí cái chai lọ thủy tinh – mún chôm dzìa cho con miej dzép mà nghĩ cái balo mình hem đủ chỗ. ngó quanh quất thì gặp cái đèn trần cũng mần bằng mí cái ly thủy tinh – đụng hàng chăng!? (dzép lào lu ý!! moá, hem có máy chụp hình, hận !) mé trái thì có một bức hình vẽ lão già Ba Tư đang ngồi ôm cái máy chụp hình – nhắc mình nhớ tới truyện “Ông già Khốt Ta bít” một thừi thơ ấu, vui ghê!

mặt bàn có lớp gương, khung gỗ, ghế nhỏ, gọn bọc nệm êm, tất nhin là xanh lè. gian mình ngồi thì chứa đc khoang >20 chỗ, gian kế bên thì khoang 15 chỗ, gian ngoài thì khaong 20 chỗ, trên lầu và tần thượng có bar nghe đồn chứa thêm khoang 40 chỗ (!)(nhờ ku Duy xác nhận)

menu kiểu loungue và cafe, trunh bình, hem có gì đặc sắc, chỉ tháy có nhìu món ăn!cafe đá rẻ nhất 25k, các món juice thì khaong 45k, rụ thì vài chai k! đồ ăn xe dịch từ 50 – 90k

Sáng ni vô ngồi thì thấy sàn hơi dzơ, chắc là đêm qua mới trác táng, sáng ni chưa kịp dọn dẹp. thây kê, ngồi đc 1 tiếng thì đi tuyên truyền rồi!