Tuesday, December 13, 2011

December 17 Finite Reproduction Place

Monoprints are an accessible medium for artists and art lovers in the age of infinite reproduction. For artists they are quickly made, for art lovers, they can be correspondingly inexpensive. They can be messy fun for artists who have made them before, and for arists new to the medium. Artists Abra Ancliffe, James Archer, Ray Anthony Barrett, Amy Bernstein, Pat Boas, Derek Bourcier, Christine Bourdette, John Brodie, Will Bruno, Christopher Buckingham, Wayne Bund, Nolan Calisch, Bruce Conkle, David Corbett, Matthew Courtway, Posie Currin, Dana Dart-McLean Melia Donovan, Liam Drain, Jenn Feeney, Damien Gilley, Renny Gleeson, Daniel J Glendening, Sam Guerrero, Bryson Hanson, Stephen Hayes, Jesse Hayward, Yuji Hiratsuka, Deborah Horrell, Linda Hutchins, Sara Kacvinsky, Vanessa Kauffman, Gina Keough, Beth Kerschen, Chris Lael Larson, Cynthia Lahti, Tina Lange, Kendra Larson, Michael Lazarus, Jen Lorentzen, Dana Lynn Louis, Alex Mackin Dolan, Victor Maldonado, Mack McFarland, Michael McGovern, Rachael Miller, Jenene Nagy, Melody Owen, Bonnie Paisley, Michael Parich, William Park, Trude Parkinson, Brittany Powell, MaryAnn Puls, Kyle Raquipiso, Kent Richardson, Morgan A Ritter, Catherine Rondthaler, Ben Rosenberg, Calvin Ross Carl, Amy Ruppel, Jack Ryan, Blair Saxon-Hill, Stephen Slappe, Ashley Sloan, Stephanie Snyder, Krystal South, Rory Sparks, Raf Spielman, Anya Spielman, Jason Sturgill, Gary Sweet, Joe Thurston, Everett Vangsnes, Samantha Wall, Valerie Wallace, Heather Watkins, Jacob Wilkinson and Christy Wyckoff get together for an afternoon party to experiment with monoprint making. In the evening, you can buy them for $50-250. At 500 NW 14th x Glisan 6PM-9 Free



Place opens works by Takahiro Yamamoto, Stephanie Simek, Palma Corral, Gabe Flores and video by Krista Dragomer with Rashin Fahandej tonight.

Two of our greatest human needs are to make narrative and to be heard. Many of our space exploration projects have included messages to other intelligent lifeforms, impressed as images and recordings, of our place in space, and our life. These crafts narrate our world in hope that on their long journeys someone will hear them. Our will to be heard is so strong that it matters not that they may be heard only generations after we cease. An example are the golden records on the Voyager I & II missions. In the Golden Records, Simek draws inspirations from the brainwave recordings carried by Voyager's golden records.

Takahiro Yamamoto is a photographer and performer from Japan via LA and now at PNCA. He shows Postal Experience and 2 performances.

Palma Corral and Gabe Flores are the founders of Place. Flores comes from a philosophy background, but in art is focused on identity. In Intimate Historical Fictions, he relates some of his current memory of his past life in a tree structure. In The Red String, Corral illustrates in a figurative installation, animated by sound and light, some prototypical gender attraction patterns.

Krista Dragomer and Rashin Fahandej collaborate on a video project 160 Years of Pressure, constructed together from their disparate geographic locations over the last 4 years.

At Place, placepdx.tumblr.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall. If the mall appears closed, enter the film theater building adjacent, travel through the tunnel to the Place mall, and take the elevator to the 3rd floor. 700 SW Fifth. 6PM-9:00 Free

Thursday, December 08, 2011

December 10 200x10x8x8=40+ Bear Craft

As we have written, there has been a history of modular art shows in Portland: a uniform form factor and a huge group of artists. This group has refined that process to an art. In this case, 200 artists have made 2000 pieces of art, 8 inches square. They are all for sale on a cash and carry basis (checks and credit cards too) for $40 each. The Big 200 Po'Boy Art show (actually now over 250 artists) taking over all the galleries in the Pioneer Place Mall 700 SW 5th, 3rd floor 2PM-10PM
Postscript: this project sold over $70,000 worth of art in less than 6 hours. That's an accomplishment. The target next year, 500 artists.



Readers may notice we don't cover crafts extensively. But we do like the Crafty Wonderland, now a once a year reunion at the Oregon Convention Center. There is a parallel event at the Sandbox Studios nearby. Saturday and Sunday.



Orlo is a Western meditation (and magazine, the Bear Delux) centered on the intersection of art and the environment. They have their annual party tonight at their space in Zoomtopia. From 7-9:30 they have Santa photo and portrait drawings, performances until 11:30, and an ugly sweater contest at about 10, final round 11. There will be auctions of art and the like. At Orlo orlo.org (ignore last year's Dec 4 date on the website, that was 2010, this is 2011) 810 SE Belmont 7PM-midnightish $10 donation

December 9 Irreality TV Poetics and Black Wagon Oz Food Art

PNCA continues its public programs on the intersection of sustainability and art. Tonight they host a talk by Stefani Bardin who critiques the food system with art. She is collaborating with medical researchers to use a video endoscope capsule to traverse the digestive system, filming a complete digestive cycle, making real The Fantastic Voyage. At the PNCA www.pnca.edu collaborative design studio 1330 NW Kearney 5PM-7



Worksound holds its resident artist potluck talk tonight with Dustin Zemel on Televisual Intagibilities: "visual and reality spaces in non fiction television". He has made a faux newscast with Portland artists as "news personalities". Poet writer curators Lisa Radon and David Abel talk about the intersection of visual art and poetry. Both have curated recent word-visual art shows. At Worksound worksound5.tumblr.com 820 SE Alder Map 7PM-10



The film, the Wizard of Oz, is a mythical fable, wrapped in a musical. It is a better vehicle than most for pop culture sampling because it transcends generations. Other pop culture sampling is only resonant with very narrow age group, and within that, a narrow subculture. Those narrow samples are hilarious to only a few, an inside joke. The Wizard of Oz film was based on a children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Artist Gesine Kratzner, draws her inspiration for her art from an East German translation Der Zauberer der Smaragdenstadt of a Russian translation of the English original of the book. The resulting work resembles a Tim Burton take on Oz. Opening at Albina Press, 4637 N. Albina Ave at Blandena 6PM-8 Free



The kids store Black Wagon opens their latest show this evening, whimsical illustrations by Lee White. Schooled at Art Center Pasadena, White has a long illustration career, including childrens' books. At Black Wagon blackwagon.com 3964 N Mississippi Map 5PM-7 Free


December 8 Greater Art

Graeter Art Gallery launches a print sale this evening by artists Brin Levinson, Miguel Gonzalez, Jesse Reno, Theodore Holdt, William Chad Willsie, Mario Robert, Phresha Le Vandalé & Abraham Wylie; complementing their other affordable artworks in other media. At Graeter Art Gallery www.graeterartgallery.com 131 NW 2nd Map 5PM-7

Friday, December 02, 2011

December 3 Disjecta Ampersand

Disjecta opens a show False Starts, Repairs, and Overhauls by Mark Licari. they are large scale drawings that comment on our contemporary predicament. At Disjecta, in the shadow of Paul Bunyan www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate Map 6PM-10 Free



Ampersand is a tightly curated art book store with a very fine focus on photography. They hunt vintage prints, by known and anonymous image makers. They curate shows, often photo-based, and even publish photographers books. They have been operating three years on Alberta and they are expanding to include the Together space next door. Tonight is a celebration of all that. They also open several shows in the expanded space: watercolor figures by Dan Gluibizzi, figure paintings by Chris Crites, Polish and Russian posters from the 1950-60's and drafting exercises from a French student made between 1902 and 1904. At Apmersand Vintage Printed Material www.ampersandvintage.com 2916 NE Alberta, Ste B. Map 6PM-10 Free

December 2 Eastside Art Openings+

Even though some people have declared Design Thinking dead, I'm not buying it. In fact, I urged AI to bring their ID program here (and they did, though probably not because of me). Startup ID facilitators Hand Eye Supply and ADX are active in Portland. ID is on the radar of PNCA, MOCC and UO. Local firm Ziba has credibility far beyond Portland, and of course the elephant in the room is the big shoe company.

Tonight's program is an element of the embrace of design thinking by PNCA and the Museum of Contemporary Craft and design. The presenters, Studio H, operate a design-build program for school children in North Carolina. There is a show in the MOCC for the next weeks of the designs conceived and built by students. There is also a meet Studio H Sunday at ADX 10-noon.

Tonight Emily Pilloton, Studio H co-founder talks about her program, the student experiences and answers your questions. Presented by the PNCA Museum of Contemporary Craft www.museumofcontemporarycraft.org. At Ziba Design Auditorium www.ziba.com 810 NW Marshall 6PM-8 Free



Portland artist Kendra Binney has a show of the psychological landscapes inhabited by the creatures of her imagination, animals and wide-eyed characters.
At Redux www.reduxpdx.com 811 E Burnside



George Eastman did not invent film and Edward Land did not invent self developing film, but they each brought it to the masses. Land created Polaroid, bringing the capability to check and share the exposure immediately. Revolutionary at the time, it seems quaint in relationship to today's instant gratification electronic photography. But there is a romance with instant, and when Polaroid ceased making film and cameras, The Impossible Project bought the factory and revived the medium. The new film fits vintage cameras. So if you are interested in Polaroid romance, there is a way to continue. Ann McGarry has the Polaroid romance. For 15 years she has been making instant photographs. Her work is now promoted by The Impossible Project itself. This show is a reminiscence of moments captured over that time of personal significance. At the Hawthorne Albina Press 5012 SE Hawthorne 6PM-9



The snapshot predates Instagram, arguably it was invented by Kodak's Eastman. And the snapshot is the theme of this show, The Snapshot Aesthetic. At Black Box Gallery www.blackboxgallery.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 212 upstairs 5PM-8:30 Free



Worksound has been engaged in a residency program this Fall with artists Michael Endo, Ray Anthony Barrett, Dustin Zemel, Lisa Radon and Sammy Shaw. Tonight Shred of Lights is an interim result of those collaborations. Lisa Radon, well known arts writer and poet reads at 7 with a series of eight small dances by Lydia Rosenberg, Jin Camou, Morgan Ritter, Jane Zemel, Stephanie Simek, Ashley Sloan, Lucy Yim, and Molly Radon-Kimball. Sound by Doug Theriault. At Worksound www.worksoundpdx.com 820 SE Alder Map 6PM-9



Half|Dozen Portland's bipolar gallery in a good way continues In Want of the World by Tia Factor and opens Arteries by Lisa Berry. At Half/Dozen Gallery www.halfdozengallery.com 722 E Burnside (enter on 8th, in the basement) 6PM-9



Tilde has the Teeny Tiny Show, small works by Portland artists Vivienne Strauss, Nicole Linde, Michele Maule, APAK, Jenna Robertson and Kate Bingaman Burt. At Tilde www.tildeshop.com 7919 SE 13th Avenue 6PM-9



Homeland has a show Gang of Four with David Coyne, Emily Costa, Zack Costa, and K. Scott Rawls. At Gallery Homeland www.galleryhomeland.org 2505 SE 11th x Division 6PM-9



Newspace has a Christmas show by Jesse Rieser and Chris Willis. At Newspace Photo www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th



Belmont Stumptown has Kristin Flemington, of the Homeschool Art Shop, whose work flexes between photography, painting and even Louisette making. At Stumptown Coffee 3356 SE Belmont 6PM-8

Thursday, December 01, 2011

December 1 Westside Art Openings

Moly Vidor makes luminous lush sensual oils which are portraits of flower blooms. It seems like something from more than 100 years ago, and out of character with the rest of the gallery's minimal work, but somehow it works. This is a new show of that work, Honeydrippers. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM



Linda Hutchins continues to make challenging work, and in this case it's a collaboration with poet Endi Bogue Hartigan. In Silver and Rust, Hutchins draws on the walls of the conceptual gallery, the Nines, with ten self designed styli, one per finger. It is distinct from her usually Zen-like process of minimal drawing. The Nine Gallery inside Blue Sky 122 NW 8th



Gamic Magic is a show by Jesse Reno and Theodore Holdt who both make paintings dense with abstracted by illustration style figures. And though distinct, their styles are quite compatible. See for yourself at Graeter Art Gallery www.graeterartgallery.com 131 NW 2nd Map



Augen Gallery has always maintained a healthy balance between international print artists and local original artists. So it's exciting they are showing longtime Portland illustrator and collagist Trish Grantham. At Augen Gallery www.augengallery.com 716 NW Davis



Fifty24/PDX is an urban male-oriented exhibitor. But this month, they go girl, with XX Marks the Spot: An all X Chromosome Art Show. You will probably recognize some of these artists: Jill Bliss, Lisa DeJohn, Olivia E. Fuente, Trish Grantham, Eilish Hynes, Yellena James, Mel Kadel, Bishop Lennon, Melanie Mikecz, Martha Rich, Amy Ruppel, Tammy Stellanova, Vivienne Strauss, Betsy Walton and Heidi Elise Wirz. Music by "soul man" Cooky Parker. At Fifty 24PDX in Upperplayground.com 23 NW 5th



Grass Hut has Ferris Plock and Kelly Tunstall. Grass Hut in Floating World. www.grasshutcorp.com 400 NE Couch



Hellion is one year old. And they are expanding into a larger adjacent space. They have a group show of some of their artists tonight. At Hellion Gallery www.helliongallery.com 19 NW 5th Suite 208. Through the lobby of the arched brick entry, up the stairs and to the back. Very upper floor Japan-style.
Map



Compound has the Doodling Show. At Compound Gallery www.compoundgallery.com 107 NW 5th



Portland loves social practice art, and social practice in the service of art distribution fits that framework. This one night show, in which artists make small work and you trade it, takes place at Hand Eye Supply tonight.

Hot One Inch Action was created by Jim Hoehnle and Chris Bentzen in Vancouver, BC, in 2004. A few dozen artists have made art into buttons. You can buy a random set of 5 for $5, then trade them with the other buyers to make your ultimate collection.

Artists include Alexis Eve Deprey, Ali Cat. Leeds, Amy Jenkins, Angela Hancock-Reavis, Audrey McNamara, Bala Atabek, Bethany Ng, Bryce Pedersen, Charles Hall, Chrissy Ortez, Christina M.I. Gyulafia, Danielle Weiss, Elli Adams, Eric J. Millar, Harlan Whitman, James Baker, James Walton, James Wigger, Jen Rombach, Jenya Andreev, Jesse Narens, Karl Edwards, Katy Meegan, Keegan from KeeganMeegan & Co., Kevin C Huynh, Kyley Quinn, Leda Zawacki, Lisa Wilde, Lyndsey Lee Denyer + Marc Faulkner, Mari Navarro, Marika Paz, Marilyn Romaine, Marsha Franco, Maryanna Hoggatt, Matt Edward, Max Taschek, Megs Senk, Morgaine Faye, Nicole Gartland, PMurphy, Scott DaRos, Shawna X. Huang, Skye Blue, Spitfire w/ Ximona, Steve Ebert, Tobias Berblinger, Tristana Lee, Tyler Segel, Valia Dempsey and Zachariah leBaron d'Avignon. At Hand Eye Supply www.handeyesupply.com 20NW 4th 6PM Free



Joakim Eskildsen has made a large documentary project of Roma, Gypsy, life in Europe. You can see a fraction of the images made and stories gathered over six years in Hungary, India, Greece, Romania, France, Russia and Finland. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9



Body Gesture is a show of some big names in feminist art from the 1970's and 1980's. Normally this would be only seen in museums, but you can see it in a small gallery here. At Elizabeth Leach Gallery www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th Map 6PM-9



Pulliam Gallery has a group show, an opportunity to see the style of their stable. At Pulliam Gallery www.pulliamdeffenbaugh.com until 8



Flight 64, one of Portland's printmaking coops, opens their show Ink Control tonight. The studio has gathered some quite good artists, judge for yourself. At Backspace www.backspace.bz 115 NW 5th. 6PM-late Free



Synthetic landscape painting and landscape painting are identical twins separated at birth. The synthetic is more practical for the artist when you don't have a landscape model handy or when you need to repair flaws the landscape image. X Zone Verboden by Brian Visser is a synthetic landscape painting show inspired by pop culture and surrealism. At Stumptown www.stumptowncoffee.com 128 SW 3rd



The Everett Lofts are always recommended - see them all. At the Everett Lofts 625 NW Everett. Bounded by NW Everett, Broadway, Flanders and 6th Map

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

November 29 Curiosty Outfitters

The Curiosity Club presents a talk by the creator of luggage and bag maker Vanport Outfitters. Inspired by the family's sail business, the bags use traditional materials and reused materials. The aesthetic is Northeast Atlantic coast. A presentation of the Curiosity Club, you can tune into the free live webcast off the Core77 site or visit the talk and demonstration in person at Hand Eye Supply www.handeyesupply.com/pages/curiosity-club 23 NW 4th 6PM Free

Sunday, November 20, 2011

November 21 Artists Talk Place

Wynde Dyer, Jason King and Jane Schiffhauer have made work at Place this month. I always enjoy one on one discussions with artists about their work, and in Portland it's common. Tonight is a sit down opportunity for each artist to talk about their work to you with the participation of PNCA professor Mary Preis. At Place, placepdx.tumblr.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall. 700 SW Fifth. 7PM Free

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

November 20 Float On Brunch

The Research Club invites you to Brunch #20. Bring some vegetarian or vegan-friendly food, a plate, cup and utensils, and yourself. A project of Research Club at the Collective Agency 322 NW Sixth Ave (between Everett and Flanders), Suite 200. See their website, collectiveagency.co for details on how to get into the building. Noon-3 Free



Flotation tanks are a relatively old new age sensory deprivation environment. They were invented in the 1950's by noted neuropsychology pioneer, John Lilly. Trained at CalTech, Dartmouth and University of Pennsylvania, Lilly is also known for research on dolphin intelligence and as an early founder of SETI research.

Flotation tanks allow individuals float in body temperature water with the salinity of about the Dead Sea, making them buoyant, simulating weightlessness. They are sealed from outside light and sound.

Float On is a commercial business renting time in tanks. They invited 150 artists to experience the tanks, then make artwork inspired by the experience. The artwork has been published in a book, Artwork from the Void. (They also have a music program, and a CD of music from floaters)

Tonight they hold a release party for the book. At Float On www.floathq.com 4530 SE Hawthorne 7PM-11 Free

Saturday, November 12, 2011

November 19 B.Y.O. Open Studio Settlement Place

The PNCA MFA program vibes with cheap warehouse space. Makes sense, artists are the quintessential small business persons, their own individual startup. Art student studios are the prototypes of working artist studios. Tonight, PNCA masters students throw open their studios for you to see and interact. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 1830 NW 19th 6:30PM-11:30 Free



Place, the gallery in the mall, is home to 3 1/2 projects with their own names we shorten to just Place. They are Peoples' Art of Portland (really not a part of Place, but adjacent, and with a different curatorial angle), Place (formerly Pottery Barn), Place (formerly Present Perfect) and Screen, the half for video work. I've always been confused by the naming, and I can't guarantee I've got it right. But their monthly events, in all the spaces are well worth a visit.

Therein you will find an installation by Rhoda London with a video by Harrison Higgs. Prolific Portland writer, Richard Schemmerer has Framed or Frame of Mind. For Sale By Owner: 1751 Easy St. is an ambitious autobiographical installation sculpture, by Wynde Dyer, a 1/3 scale model of the home she grew up in. She has constructed it primarily by her own hand and has been occupying it over much of that time. Jane Schiffhauer has an installation, The Myth of Memory. In Screen,
translations is a project by Jamie Marie Waelchli in which she translated a text back and forth between languages repeatedly, ultimately producing nonsense which nonetheless provided new insights into the original intent. It's really not surprising, artificial intelligence, including language translation, has suffered from overstated predictions of its capability, and occasionally ridicule of claims for translation. Today the greatest advancements have been made by using United Nations translations as a heuristic for statistical machine translation. Place also has a performance series, tonight it's PositionMax Beta by Jason King. Place has an expanded website with details. At Place, placepdx.tumblr.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall. 700 SW Fifth. 6PM-9:30+ish Free



The UO White box is hosting an open and curated night of projected visuals. It's titled Bring Your Own Beamer, B.Y.O.B. The curated part of the program is courtesy of (Sub)Urban Projections of Eugene. Portland artists are encouraged to bring their own work and projector to add to the program. Accompanied by DJ Leftovers. At the University of Oregon White Box Gallery whitebox.uoregon.edu. 24 NW 1st 8PM-11 Free

November 18 Boatspace Rag Live Transmission Talk

Communication is not unique to the human species, but we have worked hard to perfect it by technical means. Communication at a distance, and to masses more than a few, has been the Grail of technologies from movable type to mobile wireless internets.

The telegraph, beginning with inventions in the early 1800's, was the point to point web of the time, primarily following railroad routes over distances. Early telegraph pioneer Morse sent a prophetic inaugural message, "What hath God wrought?", between DC and Baltimore in 1844. Eventually submarine telegraph cables spanned the ocean.

Telegraph messages, carried by wire, spawned wireless transmission, based on the research of Hertz and others. Early wireless radio carried telegraph codes. Later analog modulation was developed. That allowed voices and music to be broadcast at a distance. That brings us to current history.

Any sufficiently evolved technology is indistinguishable from art, and that is the theme of performances tonight accompanying a book release of Transmission Arts: Artists and Airwaves.

Performances tonight include Chloé Womack's Community Amateur Radio Project, Weird-Fiction's sculptural transmission, The Video Gentlemen's rogue television broadcasts and Joe Milutis' text experiments.

The fascinating book, Transmission Arts: Artists and Airwaves, covers 90 years of transmission arts - video, audio and codes transmitted by radio, sound and the internets.

Performance and book release at Monograph Bookwerks monographbookwerks.com 5005 NE 27th x Alberta Map 7PM-9 Free



Artist, writer and curator, Sam Korman, opens I Want To Believe, an essentially one night show, tonight, at the Labrador. Korman is noted for a year of shows in his garage, extensively documented in a Publication Studio book, and for curating a great show, Watersports, on the boat. Pop culture is a rich vein for sampling into art. We are familiar with the references and each carries emotional associations attached as we first experienced them.

Korman is a writer, and the press release for the show is well worth a look. You don't have to believe aliens have visited earth in spaceships to see the show!

The show takes place on a 65 foot boat moored in the Willamette River near Sauvie Island. At 12128 Labrador Project www.labradorproject.com It's moored by Fred's Marina 12900 NW Marina Way, Portland. Map More detailed directions, don't get lost, on the website. 7PM-10



Fourteen30 hosts Mike Bray and Glen Baldridge tonight in a talk about their works in the current show at the gallery. At Portland's only member of the New Art Dealers Alliance www.newartdealers.org, Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 922 SE Ankeny Map 6:30PM Free



Kalakendra presents classical Indian musician Kartik Seshadri and his ensemble, including Arup Chattopadhyay on tabla. Both are young generation virtuosos fluent in traditional rags, their own compositions and collaborations with Western musicians. By Kalakendra www.kalakendra.org at 909 SW 11th 8PM $20, $15 students

November 17 Dance Mushroom Spark

Yvonne Rainer is one of the world's most accomplished modern choreographers and experimental film makers. Studying with Graham, Cunningham and Waring, Rainer was a cofounder of the seminal Judson Church Dance Theater at age 28. She expanded into experimental film, including incorporating film and dance. It's a rare chance to see Rainer in Portland. She speaks at PNCA tonight www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson 6:30PM Free



Paul Stamets is one of the foremost experts in the world on mushrooms. What's more he is an entrepreneur and the foremost innovator in creating new relationships between humans and mushrooms. If you think mushrooms are boring, listen to Stamets speak.

Lewis and Clark is bringing Olympia-based Stamets to speak today. Here is a bio for Stamets from the Lewis and Clark website:

"Paul Stamets has written six mushroom-related books, with his most recent being Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World. He is the author of many scholarly papers in peer-reviewed journals (The International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms; Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine; Herbalgram, and others). He has written more than twenty patents. He started a medicinal and gourmet mushroom business, Fungi Perfecti, LLC, in 1980. Stamets is the sole source supplier and co-investigator of the first two NIH funded clinical studies using medicinal mushrooms in the United States. He has been working with the NIH governed BioShield BioDefense Program since 2005 to develop new defenses against bioterrorism.

In 2008, Paul received the National Geographic Adventure’s Magazine’s Green-O-vator and the Argosy Foundation’s E-chievement Awards. In November of 2008, Utne Reader recognized Paul as one of the 50 Visionaries of the Year. In February of 2010, Paul received the President’s Award from the Society of Ecological Restoration. In October of 2011, Reader’s Digest chose Paul as one of the Eco-Heroes of the plane, reflecting how deeply his message has penetrated into the depths of American society. In March 2010 Paul received the ‘Packy Award” from Sustainable Business Coalition and Whole Foods Market’s Green Coalition for the Life Box™. Paul’s talk at TED.com on how mushrooms can help save the world has been seen by more than a million viewers and has been rated in the top 10 of all TED talks."

Stamets joins us from fair Olympia (Washington), his home, to speak tonight at Lewis and Clark College in the Templeton Campus Center Council Chambers, which is not a large room. At Lewis and Clark College www.lclark.edu 0615 SW Palatine Hill Road. Mind the campus parking regulations. 6PM-8 Free



Art Spark is back with jazz accompaniment to Create Aplenty, which promotes the elimination of single use plastic packaging and containers by using them twice as craftworks. If they are successful, theoretically they will eliminate their supply stream. At Vie de Boheme 1530 SE 7th 5PM-7

November 15 Plazm

Plazm is a successful Portland small business that has combined art, design and publishing. Their community of visual designers, type designers and writers spans 20 years in Portland. A Plazm retrospective is at Archer Gallery this month, Tonight, Plazm cofounder and creative director, Joshua Berger, talks about the Plazm experience. At the Clark College Archer Gallery www.clark.edu/news_events/archer/index.php. In the Penguin Union Building 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver, WA. See the campus map www.clark.edu/maps/google/index.php 7PM Free

Thursday, November 10, 2011

November 14 Jaar on Jaar and Gilding Disruption

Alfredo Jaar is one of the world's greatest living interventionist artists. Some pieces are stunning and others are too obvious. So it's fitting that his lecture tonight is entitled "It's Difficult".

Trained as an architect, Jaar has explored Africa, globalization, genocide, homelessness and immigration as well as other topics through photography, installation, performance, sculpture and film.

Representative works and their themes include Chilean politics with Studies on Happiness; 1981; gold mining in the Amazon with Gold in the Morning, 1985; vacant media gaze in Untitled (Newsweek) 1994; immigration policy and national identity with One Million Finish Passports, 1995; the responsibility journalists in war and crisis, in this case Sudan, with Sound of Silence, 1995; Africa in the media in Searching for Africa in LIFE in 1996; Rwanda with the stunning The Eyes of Gutete Emerita in 1996; geography and cartography in A logo for America 1997; the genocide in Rwanda with Let There Be Light in 1998 as well as many other projects in years since on the topic; homelessness with Lights in the City, 1999; a comment on children and play in the context of a lost generation in Playground, 1999; the separation of families across the US-Mexican border in Cloud, 2000; the lack of museums in Africa in Culture Boxes, 2000; freedom of information and ownership in Lament of the Images, 2002; South Africa in Hope, 2003; Italian Fascism in The Gramsci Trilogy, 2005; economic problems in the German reunification with Requiem for Leipzig, 2005; poverty in oil-rich Angola in Muxima, 2005; immigration again in Escalera el Cielo; 2006; the formation of cultural identity using advertising tools in Questions Questions / Domande Domande, 2008; globalization with The Marx Lounge, 2010; a park for contemplation of atrocities of the current centuries with Park of the Laments, 2010; AIDS with Emergencia, 2010; the missing in Chile in The Geometry of Conscience in 2010; truth and war news in the group show Seeing is Believing with May 1, 2011 in 2011; global media and the art viewer gaze in Three Women, 2011; the value of civilization in remote locations and the value of education for children in Dear Marcus 2011; and documentation of Occupy in 2011.

Jaar's work travels together with Ai Wei Wei, subject of an upcoming documentary, Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry. Jaar is more overstated; Wei Wei more veiled and subtle. But the antiparallels between where each makes work are something to think about.

Jaar speaks at Blue Sky Gallery (unless they move to a larger space) tonight. Sponsored by Oregon College of Art and Craft. Reservations 971-255-4165. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 7PM Free



Paul Gilding speaks about his book The Great Disruption on how society could respond to climate change, if it was viewed as a crisis. Gilding, from Australia, a country leading thinking on climate, has lead environmental organizations and consulting groups as a social entrepreneur. Gilding speaks at PNCA www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson 6:30PM Free

Tuesday, November 08, 2011

November 12 Butoh Art Towne Sprawling Lumber Geology Recess

Portland's butoh outpost, Water in the Desert, is known for striking, and even spectacular experimental performances, of this Japanese, most modern of dance forms. They have been hosting Yukio Suzuki for a workshop. Tonight the workshop participants perform a work of their own making with Suzuki. At the Headwaters Theater, by www.witdpresents.com 55 NE Farragut St. #9. The theater is in the back of the building by the railroad tracks facing Winchell Street. 7PM $5-10



Disjecta holds their annual art auction party this evening. It's a good opportunity to see the work of a great cross section of Portland artists, and chat with fascinating individuals in the art community. At Disjecta, in the shadow of Paul Bunyan www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate Map 7PM-late $20 advance, $30 door



The Towne Storage Building is a longtime artist studio spot which you have seen crossing the Burnside Bridge. Tonight over 25 studios in the building will be open for an inside view of art making and an opportunity to purchase work directly from the artists. Note carefully parking signs, the area is known for towing. At the Towne Storage Building 17 SE 3rd 6PM-10 Free



Music schools are by nature sprawling affairs. They comprise musics past, present and future. The staff and students have ever evolving interests. Each student is an individual performer and member of a rotating cast of ensembles. The concert this evening is a demonstration of that creativity mixed and remixed.

The Venerable Showers of Beauty Gamelan collaborates with Ki Midiyanto from UC Berkeley, vocalist Peni Candra Rini from Java and musicians from Seattle’s Gamelan Pacifica, Portland's Northwest New Music and the college chorale.

The program has contemporary work, the 1982 Double Concerto for Cello, Violin and Gamelan by noted microtonal composer Lou Harrison and Missa Gongso, a 2005 mass written for gamelan choir by Neil Sorrell. At Lewis and Clark College www.lclark.edu and www.vsbgamelan.org Evans Auditorium 0615 SW Palatine Hill Road 8PM $20, $15 students



Interior Margins opens today, but it is not open. It will be open later in the week though. Portland curator Stephanie Snyder from Reed and Sarah Miler Meigs have curated a show women artists to the Lumber Room. The Lumber Room is the project space of noted Portland collector Sarah Miller Meigs, arguably Portland's most serious contemporary collector. Artists selected are Judy Cooke, LĂ©onie Guyer, Victoria Haven, Midori Hirose, Linda Hutchins, Kristan Kennedy, Michelle Ross, Blair Saxon-Hill, Lynne Woods Turner, Nell Warren and Heather Watkins. It's a show of quiet abstraction by primarily mid- to late-career artists from Portland, Seattle and San Francisco. Public viewing Thursday, Friday and Saturday, November 17-Januray 30 excepting holidays. At The Lumber Room 419 SW 9th, above Liz Leach. 11AM-6PM Free



Jeff Jahn, artist, curator and creator of Portland's big art blog PORT has organized a show, foreGround, at PSU's premier gallery the Littman. ForeGround is inspired by geology. The artists are Ben Young, Jim Neidhardt, Zach Davis, Arcy Douglass, Jacqueline Ehlis and Matthew Picton. Jahn gives a curator's talk about the show this afternoon. At the PSU Littman Gallery in the Smith Center 2nd Floor 1825 SW Broadway. Talk 2:30PM Free



Recess Gallery is back in session with (Im)material by Chase Biado, Alex Mackin Dolan, Michelle Liccardo, Kyle Raquipiso and Jay Spicero. Their statement is too good to pass up: "(Im)material addresses the divide between what’s there and what’s not. What does it mean to be made of material? How is our visceral existence affirmed when we encounter other beings? There’s no room for bodily detritus in the quick and effortless navigation through what we call the virtual. As the technicolor veil slips away, one is left amidst a seemingly immaterial atmosphere . A zone where physical contact is confined to the brushing of ‘cookies’ off a hard drive or the deep pulsing of fiber optics under our feet. By and large, artists in our technological zeitgeist - like those represented in (im)material - are moved by this abandonment. As with any disturbance, they are compelled to respond with divergent methods. In this case, across a spectrum from a primordial return to brute physicality to reappropriations of the digital that exacerbate their dystopian worldview". At RECESS recesspdx.blogspot.com at Oregon Brassworks Building, 1127 SE 10th 6:30PM-10:30 Free

November 11 Intimate Raga Potluck

Although photographer Lindsey Marla Lynch often works with professional models, Lille Boutique has her charming portraits of everyday individuals in lingerie they have chosen as their favorite or something with deep personal significance. The show is titled I See London, I See France, from the childhood rhyme, though there is nothing childish but innocence about the show. At Lille Boutique www.lilleboutique.com 1007 E Burnside




It's Yoga Shala's birthday. To celebrate it, Michael Stirling performs a program of ragas. Stirling is a long time proponent of Indian music of the subcontinent and experimental music in Portland, including teaching. He has studied in India and with noted composer and minimalist pioneer, Terry Riley. Yoga Shala has an evening of events, noted on their website, all free, beginning at 6:30PM, in addition to the concert which closes the event. At Yoga Shala yogashalapdx.com 3808 N. Williams Ragas 10PM-11:11 Free



Worksound has made a lab this Fall with resident artists Michael Endo, Ray Anthony Barrett, Dustin Zemel, Lisa Radon and Sammy Shaw exploring studio practices, critical thinking, artists as curators, social practices and relational aesthetics. The artists relate to the community through a series of potluck talks. Tonight Ray Anthony Barrett with guest Michael Lazarus discuss their work. At Worksound www.worksoundpdx.com 820 SE Alder Map 7PM-10 Free



November 10 Character Design and Renwick Night at the Museum

The art museum invites an artist once a month to talk about a piece in the collection. Tonight it's Vanessa Renwick, Portland filmmaker and installationist. Later everyone retires to the cafe for drinks and more conversation. It requires museum admission, to keep the museum from becoming even more nonprofit than it already is, so go with a member or make an afternoon tour. If interested, meet promptly at 6PM at the side entrance by the courtyard. Reservations suggested, it can sell out. At the Portland Art Museum www.pam.org 1219 SW Park 6PM-8 $12, $5 members



Black Wagon is Portland's go to spot for kid things. The selection is well curated. They also have a rotating art program, curated with the same care. Tonight they open a show by Margaret Meyer. Meyer is a character designer who makes 3d characters for stop action animation and 2d versions too. At Black Wagon blackwagon.com 3964 N Mississippi Map 5PM-7 Free

Monday, November 07, 2011

November 9 Sustainable Design

Natalia Allen speaks tonight about design, particularly of clothing. It's part of everyone's life but its production, distribution and disposal needs work. At the PNCA www.pnca.edu The Bison Building, the MFA in Applied Craft and Design Studios 421 NE 10th 6:30PM Free

November 8 Architect Artists

James M Harrison is a Portland artist architect. Harrison is responsible for some of the Eastbank esplanade public art and saving the Lovejoy Columns. His talk, "The Earth Is Not Up To Code", is sure to be entertaining! A presentation of the Curiosity Club, you can tune into the free live webcast off the Core77 site or visit the talk and demonstration in person at Hand Eye Supply www.handeyesupply.com/pages/curiosity-club 23 NW 4th 6PM Free

Sunday, November 06, 2011

November 7 Pie Ranch

Pie Ranch is another example of a common PSU lecture series menu item: social practice artists working in the food chain: growing it, preparing it and eating. In this case, it's an educational farm on the California coast. A part of the PSU MFA Lecture Series pdx.edu/art/mfa-lecture-series. In the Shattuck Hall Annex, 1914 SW Park Avenue, at the corner of SW Broadway and Hall on the PSU campus. 7:30PM Free

November 6 Time-based Stock

Stock has solicited proposals for time-based art projects. You can select your favorite for funding tonight. RSVP by email, portlandstock at gmail dot com, the meal reservations, limited by logistics, fill quickly. Details: portlandstock.blogspot.com At PNCA 1241 NW Johnson 6PM-8 $10 cash only

Thursday, November 03, 2011

November 4-5 Yukio Suzuki

From its small place on earth Portland operates in a world stage. Through our creative networks we weave a web of inspiration by artists traveling from here and to here. Yukio Suzuki comes from Japan to perform in Portland and conduct workshops. Details at witdpresents.com 8PM $12-20

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

November 5 Magic Nature

Magic>Nature is a group show on mystic iconography in landscape art. It's a rich vein of culture fueled by an Internet of possibilities in spiritual sampling and even pseudo-science. Curated by Michael Endo and Emily Nachison, ME EN, it includes John Bohl, Lauren Marie Cherry, Tia Factor, Lauren Payne, Kendra Larson, Hermonie Only, Andrew Rogers and Ian Waite. At False Front Studio www.falsefrontstudio.com 4518 NE 32nd Map 7-10 Free



November 4 Eastside Art Openings

We make a joke about Portlandia's "put a bird on it". Amy Ruppel is probably the artist responsible for Portland's bird meme. One of her themes has been bird silhouettes filled with mysterious colored stripes residing in larger illustrations, with light backgrounds. Ruppel has now turned to painted bird portraits, but with a darker tone than Audubon, even malevolence in her Mean Birds show. She has a series of state birds in more a schematic style. This show is Know Your Oregon Backyard Birds. Mot mean, it's a classic dynamic of light and dark, and perfect for the recent Halloween season. Molly Bosley also shows her elaborate dioramas made of thrift store finds and intricate cut paper backgrounds, in mason jars. At Tilde 7919 SE 13th Avenue



Glitch, previously noted, closes at Homeland tonight with a performance. Sue-C from Oakland performs one of her audio visual pieces live, animating work of her own design from photographs, collage, drawings, models and fabric. There will also be short video works by Jesse Malmed, Evan Meaney, Julie Perini, Tom Sherman and Dustin Zemel. At Gallery Homeland www.galleryhomeland.org 2505 SE 11th x Division 6PM-9, performance 7:30



Potatoes and tomatoes, we would be in a sad world without them. And it would be a sad world if we did not have people dedicated to preserving the old varieties and crossing them creatively to make new tasty and colorful varieties. Tom Wagner is a world expert in potato and tomato varieties and proponent of open source genetics in food. Who can be against that? He has dedicated his career to preserving potato seeds, without the seeds, potatoes are just clones. Wagner speaks on bioregionalism, plant diversity, nutrition and genetics tonight. He also displays his potatoes in the art gallery. At Project Grow at the Port City Development Center. 2156 N Williams Ave at Tillamook. 6PM-9 Free



Nationale is the winner of the copywriting award of the month.

"Like Sartre on shrooms, the playful illustrations in Edward Jeffrey Kriksciun’s second exhibition at Nationale, Bone Less, revel in the absurdity of the human condition. Amidst trippy watercolor swirls and jarring geometrical patterns, his ragtag crew of skater punks, bug-eyed wanderers, aliens and cartoon dogs grapple with the surrounding world through humorous, oĹżten foul-mouthed, expressions of youthful rebellion. Kriksciun’s unabashedly simple drawings harken to the dazed doodles of a suburban teen, transforming his subjects’ existential and anarchist tendencies into SoCal assertions of joyous self-expression. Shaka a cop, moon your neighbor- life demands the occasional LOL.

In addition to Kriksciun’s framed works, Bone Less will also include smaller digital drawings “faxed” over to the gallery by the artist on a daily basis.

Recent Portland resident Edward Jeffrey Kriksciun currently lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden. A self-proclaimed 'artist via skateboarding,' Kriksciun’s work attempts to question the norm through humor and a devilish dash of barbed naivety."

At Nationale thenewnationale.com 811 E Burnside Map



Newspace has three shows. Author Lisa Wells, and photographer Bobby Abrahamson show The 45th Parallel, documentation of small Oregon towns on their way to becoming ghost towns. Live music by Nick Jaina. Jennifer Steensma Hoag shows video pieces Separation and Nearly Five. Coming to Homeland through a national competition, Andrea Land, shows In My Room, enigmatic portraits of children in their own physical and mental spaces. It's not an Arbus gaze, and the work is posed, but it has a great quality. Thus the artist wins the rare second place copywriting award of the month.

"I enter into the process of creating a photograph on both a conscious and subconscious level. My portraits of children contain various layers of information relating to the artist, the subject and a mutual exchange between the two. The work seeks to explore the psyche of complex individuals. Each young girl, while physically existing in the natural world, also thrives in another realm, an insular dream state, with her gaze turned inward. The photographs exist as both fictional and autobiographical creations (growing up in an all female, Midwest household). Relating to the temporary situation of childhood, I am fascinated by young individuals’ imagination and intensity of experience. My curiosity about childhood, as a state of limbo and a game of illusion, creates additional layers with which to contemplate. Visually exploring the girls’ stances and embellished environments, the audience enters into a private world of vulnerability, isolation, imagination and memory. A delicate balance exists between the real and the imagined, the beautiful and the grotesque."

At Newspace Photo www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th



To Make a Flame is a show by Glen Baldridge, Walead Beshty, Mike Bray, Brendan Fowler and Alex Hubbard. At Portland's only member of the New Art Dealers Alliance www.newartdealers.org, Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 922 SE Ankeny 6PM-9



Half/Dozen continues Kendra Larson's Glass Lakes and opens Tia Factor's In Want of the World. At Half/Dozen Gallery www.halfdozengallery.com 722 E Burnside (enter on 8th) 6PM-9



Land has papercut art by Nikki McClure, from Olympia. At Buy Olympia's Land Gallery www.landpdx.com 3925 N Mississippi 6PM-8

Monday, October 31, 2011

October 31 Scottish Intervention and Stop Action Alice

Peter McCaughey is a social practice artist in Glasgow, organizing teams to make interdisciplinary work on site-specific themes. His current interest is the intersection of memory and landscape, including the urban landscape. For example, he worked with the community to design a park, and much of the sculpture was fabricated by the community members. McCaughey presents his work by teleconference tonight as part of the PSU MFA Lecture Series pdx.edu/art/mfa-lecture-series. In the Shattuck Hall Annex, 1914 SW Park Avenue, at the corner of SW Broadway and Hall on the PSU campus. 7:30PM Free



Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a rich source for surreal filmmaking. One of the best examples is Czech filmmaker Jan Ĺ vankmajer's Alice. It is his first feature length film, made in 1988. Ĺ vankmajer is famous for his stop action animations combined with live actors, as is the case in this Alice. The film is presented as part of the Fin de Cinema series in which local musicians provide the sound track. Tonight that is Wampire, Litanic Mask and Bruxa. Dancing later. At Holocene. 1001 SE Morrison Film 9PM sharp $5

Friday, October 28, 2011

October 30 Brunch #19

The Research Club is an informal gathering of artists and creative people over a pot luck brunch. This month the presenters are Ciara Carruthers, Mykle Hansen, Robby Kraft and Clare Kaluzynski, and Mathew Lippincott and Molly Danielsson. Bring some vegetarian or vegan-friendly food, a plate, cup and utensils, and yourself. A project of Research Club at Gallery Homeland www.galleryhomeland.org 2505 SE 11th x Division Noon-3ish Free

October 29 Deconstructionist Sculpture as a Book

Publication Studio launches a book about sculptor Elspeth Pratt, who has shown at Reed. She is known for deconstructionist-influenced sculpture beginning in the 1980's. Visual deconstructionism was the followon to visual postmodernism, which included the tactic of sampling. Deconstruction returned to minimalism, but with a more theoretical and "outside the box" aesthetic. Book launch at Publication Studio www.publicationstudio.biz 717 SW Ankeny 7PM Free

Thursday, October 27, 2011

October 27 Alberta Commentary Photographies+

Swimming is a show of installation, photography and booklets by Baltimore artist Geoffrey KixMiller. KixMiller has been artist in residence at Appendix for the last two weeks and this is the result. At Appendix Project Space www.appendixspace.com On the alley between 26th and 27th, South of Alberta. Map 7-10ish Free



Last Thursday continues its only slightly more organized mayhem. On NE Alberta from about 13th to about 30th. www.lastthursdayonalberta.com 5PM-10ish. Free



Goodfoot has I Am, Therefor I Think 5, social commentary themed work by 75 artists, the full list is on the website. It's a huge range of work and will be visually overwhelming. Perfect! www.thegoodfoot.com/gallery 2845 SE Stark Map Starts 5PM



Erik Almas is a commercial photographer, not usually our focus here. But he is a master at seamlessly blending multiple exposures, which is a technique used by one of our favorite photographers, Gregory Crewdson. The resulting image looks as it it was made with a single exposure. Almas gives a talk on his technique this evening. Sponsored by the American Society of Media Photographers, www.asmp.org. At Ziba Design 810 NW Marshall 7PM Students $5, otherwise $15-25



Laurel Nakadate brings a David Lynch sensibility to art films and photography, with a primary focus on female models and set in her native Midwest. Nakadate studied at Yale in the era of the infamous Another Girl, Another Planet show organized by Crewdson. The show was criticized at the time, but now is considered a coming out party for what we know today as The Yale School. It's highly staged photography implying a slightly disturbing narrative. Nakadate brings that edge to photography and has lately ventured into film. In a score for the Intermedia Department, she speaks tonight. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson Map 6:30PM Free

Sunday, October 23, 2011

October 26 Artists Talk Philosophy

Woolly Mammoth, Nietzsche, and Michael Jackson Come to Dinner. I don't know what the punchline is, but this premise is the starting point for Gina Altamura's praxis. It's not all talk, because dance movers Woolly Mammoth Comes to Dinner perform. So the combination of talk, movement and pop culture may prove interesting. Part of the Praxis series. At Place, a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall. 700 SW Fifth. 6:30PM Free

Saturday, October 22, 2011

October 24 Art Magic

Aaron Gach founded The Center for Tactical Magic in San Francisco in 2000. It's known for installations and interventions worldwide. Not with the fiery tactical hand and terrible force of Sun Tzu or Clausewitz, more with the velvet glove of amazement. One of their tools is magic, a construct outside conventional reasoning systems. As such, it creates a liminal space between perception and belief than can be exploited by art. The Center for Tactical Magic has used that space for political ends to create a discussion of social issues, including our compulsion to kill the land and to kill other people. They speak about their projects tonight as part of the PSU MFA Lecture Series pdx.edu/art/mfa-lecture-series. In the Shattuck Hall Annex, 1914 SW Park Avenue, at the corner of SW Broadway and Hall on the PSU campus. 7:30PM Free

Friday, October 21, 2011

October 22 Publishing and Music

Publication Studio is two. Their thesis is simple: print books on demand when and where they are needed using everyday paper and make them available as e-books. This Portland-based micropublisher has regular outposts in Berkeley, Vancouver BC, Toronto and in the US Midwest. It has popped up in Seattle, LA, NY, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Cologne, Lisbon and Tokyo. It has a growing pantheon of books and a stable of authors. So they have something to celebrate, and do it tonight. At Publication Studio www.publicationstudio.biz 717 SW Ankeny 7PM Free



India is big. With a third the land mass of the US it has about three times the population. So it's not a surprise that it has more than one music tradition. Hindustani in the North and Carnatic music in the South are two distinct threads. Tonight's program combines both. Musicians are Gaurav Majumdar, sitar; Nirmala Rajasekar, veena; T.K. Murugaboopathi, mridangam and Vishal Nagar, tabla. Presented by Kalakendra, whose website is inexplicably only partially working. At the First Congregational Church 1126 SW Park 7:30PM $20

October 21 Post Carbon

We are a carbon based life form. Carbon, along with hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, and other elements make up the building blocks of life that emerged from the primordial stew. Of course along the way came photosynthesis and millions of years of plants. Photosynthesis is a beautiful piece of biochemical machinery that uses sunlight, carbon dioxide and water to make complex hydrocarbons and the oxygen we breathe. Over hundreds of millions of years, coal, natural gas and oil was formed from the remains of plant and animal life built on photosynthesis. About 150 years ago we began to mine it in earnest. But what happens when it's gone?

PNCA is incorporating big questions like these into its programs. Not only are they provocative questions demanding address by artists, but artists may end up contributing original solutions to these greatest challenges as a species.

Richard Heinberg from the Post Carbon Institute provides a provocative view of the future as stored carbon fuels become more expensive and then are depleted over the next 150 years, beginning with oil. If we focus on climate change caused by burning all those stored carbon fuels, the time scales for radical change are shortened to less than 20 years. That's why there is unprecedented investment by China in cleantech. Heinberg builds on the work of the Sloan School's Jay Forrester. It's a hard topic to approach rigorously as the dismal science is notoriously inexact. But still, some thought needs to be given to future economic theory.

You can hear Heinberg's thoughts in a talk tonight. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson 7PM Free



Thursday, October 20, 2011

October 21 Non-Profit Design-Architecture and Paper-Cut Art

Architecture operates in the realm of expensive endeavors that use a lot of materials, take a long time to build, and hopefully last a long time. That makes architecture necessarily conservative because the clients are conservative. This is not all bad, because architecture is a primary substrate for neuro-aesthetics, underlying visual and spatial GemĂĽtlichkeit. But architects are filled with many more creative ideas and many are participating in pro bono services for non profits solving real world problems outside the constraints of commercial architecture.

It's the same for industrial designers. They work in a language of materials and form which becomes the basis for our perceptions of object beauty. But their projects often involve unit commits of tens of millions over months to a few years. For instance the iPhone 4s will probably have a worldwide run of up to 100 million, with a material and labor cost of over $2.5 billion dollars.

Portland architect Brian Cavanaugh, part of the ADX Gang of Ten Group has organized a talk and exhibition by architects and designers working on non-profit projects in the Northwest. It's the Northwest region project of The 1%: Design for the Public Good, started by San Francisco's Public Architecture. It relates well to the internationally-focused project from Cooper Hewitt Design for the Other 90%.

Participating architects and firms include Architects Building Culture, CAST Architecture, Grouparchitect, The Miller Hull Partnership, ORB Architects, Perkins + Will, Schemata Workshop, VIA Architecture, Workshop for Architecture|Design, WPA, and Portland firms SERA Architects, Lorraine Guthrie Architect, Scott Edwards Architecture, and Yost Grube Hall Architecture.

At adxportland.com 417 SE 11th x Stark Reception 6PM, panel 7:45-9. Exhibition continues through Sunday, October 23 Free



Olympia's Nikki McClure is known for her paper cut stencil illustrations. She is one of the most expressive artists working in the medium. She was also an intimate part of the 1990's music revolution in Olympia. The art school museum, PNCA's, Museum of Contemporary Craft, art and design host a talk by her this evening. The talk accompanies an exhibition of 15 years of her work at the museum, and a series of podcast interviews at the museum, freely downloadable. Show at the Museum of Contemporary Craft museumofcontemporarycraft.org. Talk at PNCA www.pnca.edu-8:30 1241 NW Johnson 6:30PM Free

Sunday, October 16, 2011

October 19 On War

War.

Some of the first ever photographers were war photographers employed by the War Department for the (American) Civil War. It's an education to look at those photos in the context of current journalistic practice. We do not show dead bodies in the American press today, and we have not had a war on American soil for generations.

But other countries have had war. And the war photographer experience continues. They have documented it. One item that has come to my attention is the book and film The Bang Bang Club, about wartime photographers in South Africa. One was killed and one was crippled. Never happy ending.

But in peaceful Portland, war is remote. An opportunity to hear about war photography is rare. Today you can though. A few photographers who have made war photography in Iraq are interviewed by a curator on the experience.

At the Portland Art Museum. In the Masonic Temple building, ask for the room. Organized by the Photography Council of the Portland Art Museum. Noon-1PM Free

Saturday, October 15, 2011

October 18 Chunky Eckard

Chunky Move is an Australian dance company bringing a work, Connected, to Portland. The work includes a kinetic sculpture created by artist Reuben Margolin which interacts with the dancers. The artistic director-movement choreographer Gideon Obarzanek and sculptor Mragolin discuss their artistic collaboration in a lunchtime talk. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 13th and NW Johnson in the main commons 12:30PM Free



Portland artist David Eckard who is all over town with a retrospective, performs tonight at Lewis and Clark. A piece is part of the Bonnie Bronson prize collection in the Lewis and Clark Gallery. In the Hoffman Gallery on the Lewis and Clark Campus, 0615 S.W. Palatine Hill Road. Map 5PM Free

October 17 Radical Criticism

I have deliberately avoided exposure to art theory, criticism and history. My interest in in direct experience with art, without those filters. That gives me more pleasure than analyzing art.

I do agree that it can be helpful for artists to study art history to inform their making, and that although there have been great successes by untrained artists in the modern age, there have been more failures.

One of the most interesting processes in contemporary art is how it expands its boundary, the boundary between art and not art. Arts writing is an important part of that process.

One of the grand dames of the art writing world is Lucy Lippard. She is known for recognizing some key trends early and writing on them for almost 50 years. She is a curator of over 50 exhibitions and is a prolific author. So it would be interesting to hear what she has to say about social practice art, given her background in political art movements, including a recent focus on local ecology and the land.

And you can have a chance hear Lippard, who lives in a small New Mexico town, by teleconference lecture tonight as part of the PSU MFA Lecture Series pdx.edu/art/mfa-lecture-series. In the Shattuck Hall Annex, 1914 SW Park Avenue, at the corner of SW Broadway and Hall on the PSU campus. 7:30PM Free

Thursday, October 13, 2011

October 15 Mall Art Fish Tales

Photographer Corey Arnold works as a commercial fisherman. Along the way he has made striking photographs of life on board a small boat filled with fish in a large ocean. Our relationship with the ocean, climate and fish is also one of our greatest challenges; commercial fish extinction has happened for some species, and may be irreversible. Arnold has shown his commercial fisherman's work at Charles Hartman. This work is a series of vintage images, by Arnold and his father Chris Arnold, fishing together, made between 1978 and 1995. At Apmersand Vintage Printed Material www.ampersandvintage.com 2916 NE Alberta, Ste B. Map 6PM-10 Free



The mall art galleries, all four of them, open their next shows tonight. Place has Rhoda London & Harrison Higgs, Richard Schemmerer, Wynde Dyer and Jane Schiffhauer. Screen has Jamie Marie Waelchli. Peoples has prolific poster artist Emek. At the Pioneer Place Mall, 3rd floor, corner of SW Morrison and 6th. 6PM to 9ish Free

October 14 Shine A Light

Shine A Light is a project by social practice artists to take over the Portland Art Museum. It succeeds. About 2000 people fill the Museum late into the evening. It's social and an opportunity to participate in interactions with the art and with artists that could never occur on the contemplative days the Museum is quiet and sparsely populated. There will be food and drink, and surprising interactions around every corner. At the Portland Art Museum www.pam.org 1219 SW Park Museum is open 10AM-6PM for strolling, 6PM-midnight for the Shine A Light event, both covered in the same admission. Free members, otherwise $15

October 13 Rain Bros Storm Merchants

Rain Bros is a collaboration between David Wien & Tripper Dungan. It's colorful illustration guaranteed to drive away rain blues with a big smile; individual work and collaborations. You may have seen their work before at Grass Hut. Tonight, they have a bright little opening at the Albina Press 4637 N Albina 6PM-8 Free



Nationale has created a series, Merchants in Residence. Artists share products that have influenced them. Tonight it's Storm Tharp. The series is a cascade of the artist inviting the next artist to follow, in this case Ty Ennis the first merchant in residence, and creator of the project, invited Tharp. At Nationale thenewnationale.com 811 E Burnside Map 6PM-8

Sunday, October 09, 2011

October 11 Change the World

We are local animals, with neural pathways laid down as infants to relate through microexpression, tone of voice and touch. But we make tools too, which extend that interaction over a distance. Distant interactions are weaker. But they can be amplified if we are talking about something important.

Like changing the world.

A tool we've made is the global social media and web infrastructure, primarily built for commerce. How can it become an amplifier for our distributed worldwide brilliance, to change the world?

That's the idea of Google Ideas.

Korea leads the United States in mobile internet culture evolution. The United States has a relatively established internet culture. Social networks in China are evolving the culture very rapidly. The interesting places in the world are developing countries with a population skewed towards youth. Many have Internet cafes with low cost Internet access. Text messaging is established, and mobile Internet access is expanding exponentially.

For many new Internet participants, the mobile phone may be their first and only connection to the Internet. Voice interaction on a feature phone may reduce the need for the most expensive smartphones, and enable participation in the Internet by people who don't read or write a dominant language.

Social Internet technologies have already had crucial impacts in how citizens and governments relate in the Arab Spring الربيع العربي‎. Egypt and Iran are noted examples where events were organized and the results publicized internationally by mobile and internet technologies. Key activists were released as a result of texts, Twitter and Facebook pressures. Governments changed for the first time in generations.

When each of us was introduced to the Internet, we found use cases which satisfied our needs. How can we ensure that apps and platforms are available to enable worldchanging in every country, specific to local culture, and relevant to each demographic? We need as many people as possible working together on the great problems facing our species and the planet on which we travel together. We can make an Internet that does more than entertain, or lubricate commerce, and we must.

One of the world's great challenges is the mismatch between elements of society that want change, and those who are comfortable with the status quo. Social Internet tools accelerate change, intensifying that conflict. Can social Internet applications also support resolving those conflicts within a society?

People interested in topics like this might be interested in a talk by Jared Cohen, founder of Google Ideas. Google Ideas continues the work of Google.org in projects worldwide that facilitate work on our greatest challenges. Cohen, formerly at the State Department, has been an advisor to the past two secretaries. He is noted for not recommending that Twitter be shut down for maintenance in Iran during the June 2009 post election protests.

For more background here is a talk by Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen at the Council on Foreign Relations. There is an interview here too.

Hear Jared Cohen of Google Ideas http://twitter.com/#!/googleideas hosted by Mercy Corps www.mercycorps.org at the First Congressional Church 1126 SW Park 7PM $20, $12.50 students

October 11 Stumptown Art

Stumptown Coffee operates an active art curation program at its SW3rd downtown, Division roastery and Belmont locations. Tonight Shawn William Creeden opens a show of embroidery drawings on Belmont. At Stumptown Belmont info.stumptowncoffee.com/category/art 3356 SE Belmont 6PM-8 Free

October 10 Kelsey Snook Speaks

Portland artist Kelsey Snook speaks about her work. It's a hybrid event, exhibition and social practice amalgam. Talk Monday in the Shattuck Hall Annex, 1914 SW Park Avenue, at the corner of SW Broadway and Hall on the PSU campus. 7:30PM Free

Friday, October 07, 2011

October 8 Ziba Manifest Body Building+

The Oregon Manifest is a bike design challenge with national participation. International design firm Ziba participated with Signal Cycles in one team. They talk about their collaborative process in an interview with Core77, the international design magazine and web portal. At the Museum of Contemporary Craft 724 NW Davis 4PM-6 PNCA Community Free, $3 Students, $4 general



Body Building is a show that thinks about the relationship between body and architecture. That architecture includes buildings and clothing. Artists include Brendan Coughlin, Christine Taylor, Emily Ryan, Hans Lindauer, Jennifer Jacobs, Laurence Sarrazin, Lisa Radon and the Opulent Project. It's in an interesting and beautiful architectural space, the Bside6 building. Curated by Christine Taylor as part of the American Institute of Architects Portland Architecture & Design Festival. Viewable from the street until November 5. Opening reception at Bside6, 525 E Burnside. 21+ 7PM-11 Free



Disjecta also has openings tonight by Tannaz Farsi and the duo Michelle Liccardo and Ralph Pugay. Details on the Disjecta website. At Disjecta, in the shadow of Paul Bunyan www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate Map 6PM-10 Free

Thursday, October 06, 2011

October 8,9,15,16 Portland Open Studios

You might enjoy this once a year event for many reasons.  100 artists open their studios for you to take a peak inside and even buy art direct from the artist, cutting out the middle person. You can see what an artist studio looks like inside, if you have ever thought about doing artwork yourself. Of course the studios will be straightened up a little, and the artists in peak mood, not stymied by artists' block!

What's different from years past is a more contemporary curation committee: Mark Wooley, Elise Wagner and Modou Dieng. If you know those names, you can get a sense of the adventurousness of the work.

The studios are open all four days, making it easier to cover different neighborhoods on foot, by bike, bus, car or your personal flying machine!

There is a full list of artists on the website, with pictures of their work. It ranges from paintings to functional ceramics, jewelry to clothing, sculpture to drawing.


Details at www.portlandopenstudios.com. 100 locations. Two weekends. 10AM-5PM. Full color map, iPhone app, or ticket only $5-15, see the website for details

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

October 7 Eastside Art Openings+

The Labrador has multiartist Nicolás Colón from San Francisco. A recent BFA grad from the excellent California College of the Arts, he works in video, performance, sculpture, installation and painting. At 12128 Labrador Project www.labradorproject.com It's moored by Fred's Marina 12900 NW Marina Way, Portland. Map More detailed directions, don't get lost, on the website. 7PM-10



Narrative is an international show of photographs curated by Holly Andres, who herself has been making striking stills from expanded childhood psychological narratives. Some good work in this show. At Black Box Gallery www.blackboxgallery.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 212 upstairs 5PM-8:30



Half/Dozen has a unique bivalve space, two rooms across the hall from one another, dubbed Left and Right. Tonight Gary Wiseman's video installation with live turf, Southeastern Lights, closes in Left. And tonight, Kendra Larson's landscapes, Glass Lakes opens in Right. At Half/Dozen Gallery www.halfdozengallery.com 722 E Burnside (enter on 8th) 6PM-9



The Bamboo Grove opens for art shows from time to time, but rarely since their last curator returned to Europe. The space has a tea shop, and a large room with a great wood floor for martial arts and movement classes. The interior theme is Asian, so their new art show themed on the Chinese Five Elements is a great match. Artists Loren Chasse- music (metal), Wil LaBelle- ceramics (earth), Eugene Lee- paintings (wood), Tim Nelson- poetry (fire), Erica Zelfand- photography (water) interpret their chosen element. Several are part of NCNM, so they are studying the elements in the context of health. At Bamboo Grove bamboogrovesalon.com/Bamboo_Grove_Salon/Home.html 134 SE 2nd Map 6PM-10



Union/Pine has a photography show by Randal Garcia, Laura Leon and Jeremy Pelly. At Union/Pine www.unionpine.com 525 SE Pine Free



No Rest in the Northwest is a show by aerosol painters Sike, Mad One, BeatLess, Nekon and Skam painting live on canvas indoors in an event dubbed painters gotta paint. They will also show work already made. DJ's food carts and libations. At adxportland.com 417 SE 11th x Stark 6PM-11 Free



Road Rash is a show of Polaroids shot on an old American highway. They have been scanned an archivally reprinted. At Albina Press Hawthorne 5012 SE Hawthorne Blvd 6PM-8 Free



Nationale has landscape photographers Jake Arcularius and John Voves. At Nationale thenewnationale.com 811 E Burnside Map



Redux has linocuts and sculptures by Thomas Rude themed on the Day of the Dead, spooky! At Redux www.reduxpdx.com 811 E Burnside



Newspace Photography opens their annual member show. At Newspace Photo www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th



Portland has bike art, band art, sports art and even skate art. They each have their own aesthetic bounds and distinct collector bases, not necessarily overlapping with other contemporary art. That's ok. This is a show of skate art at an indoor skate spot. Lori D is a columnist for Skateboard Mag. She invites skaters to write on the personal topic of their choice, then illustrates the column. This show Learnings Of... is created from the original illustrations. At Commonwealth Skateboarding 1425 SE 20th 6PM-9 Free refreshments, $5 to skate



Fourteen30 continues Grier Edmundson's looking around looking. The installation includes wallpaper designed by the artist. Not sure if they are open tonight, but the show is up until October 22. At Portland's only member of the New Art Dealers Alliance www.newartdealers.org, Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 922 SE Ankeny 6PM-9



Land has Space Is The Place - graphic design by Ian Lynam. He is based in Tokyo, so it's bright and poppy! Opening at Buy Olympia's Land Gallery www.landpdx.com 3925 N Mississippi 6PM-8



PNCA graduate Malia Jensen ’89 gives the homecoming lecture at PNCA tonight, Jensen lives and works in New York. At PNCA www.pnca.edu. NW Johnson and 13th 6PM Free



Indian ragas are poetic melodic frameworks. Included is the scale, progression, emphasized notes and other elements. They are to be played at a specific time of the day or season. So tonight it's Autumn rags. Portland musician Michael Stirling sings, accompanied by Aran Adams, tabla, Derek Ecklund & Kelly Jennings, tambura. At Nritya Mandala Maha Vihara 1405 S.E. 40th. 7:30PM by donation


Tuesday, October 04, 2011

October 6 Westside Art Openings

Early in the evening Portland State University has a show of mid-degree MFA students Will Bruno, Sam Guerrero, Jessica Hickey, Evan La Londe, Rochelle Nielsen and Sean Schumacher. The show is titled Mobility and Sparseness: Every City’s Edge, inspired by the zeitgeist of the Western United States. At Portland State University Autzen Gallery, Neuberger Hall room 205, 724 SW Harrison. 4PM-6 Free



Blue Sky has Dan Ziskie's East of Broadway and Carl Bower's Chica Barbie. The first documents a neighborhood within Manhattan's Chinatown. The second, the popular beauty pageants of Columbia. Both artists also give a free talk Saturday at 3PM. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9



Tom Prochaska is an impressionistic painter and printmaker, often with figurative subjects. Along with work by Sally Finch. Both artists give a talk October 22 at the gallery 11AM. At www.froelickgallery.com 714 NW Davis 6PM-8



Guiding Force is a show of oil paintings by Pacale Ticheler from the Netherlands. At the Victory Gallery www.victorygallery.com 733 NW Everett



PNCA has We Don't Share a Formal History by Chloé Womack and Brennan Broome. It's in the Higgins gallery in the main building. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 13th and NW Johnson



Leach has Maquettes by Lee Kelly. Kelly is known for his large sculptures; these are the small models that proceeded them. Also showing are works of the late Bonnie Bronson from the 1960's. At Elizabeth Leach Gallery www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th Map 6PM-9



Everett Lofts are always recommended. At the Everett Lofts 625 NW Everett. Bounded by NW Everett, Broadway, Flanders and 6th Map



Yokohama Japan artist, Naoshi, makes sand paintings, sunai, a traditional medium, but takes them in a pop direction. The artist will be demonstrating the technique live in the gallery. The sand sparkles when properly lit, web photos cannot capture that, so stop by and see these in person. At Hellion Gallery www.helliongallery.com 19 NW 5th Suite 208. Through the lobby of the arched brick entry, up the stairs and to the back. Very upper floor Japan-style.
Map



Senjiro Nakata and Tadashi Ura present their work in a show Japanism. Both artists use traditional techniques and motifs, but with updated content. At Compound Gallery www.compoundgallery.com 107 NW 5th



Alex Chiu and Itokin Park show this month at Grass Hut. Chiu makes intense paintings of imaginary figures with a similarity to Tibetan monster-gods. Park makes 3d plastic figures. At Grass Hut in Floating World. www.grasshutcorp.com 400 NE Couch



We don't usually cover poster shows. But here is a bike themed one: Art Crank. Artists Aaron Hartman, Ashley Montague, Berto Legendary H, Bethany Ng, Bettina McEntyre, Bryce Pedersen, Cat Cheng, Craft Services, Doug Merritt, Eatcho, Erik Johnson, Factory North, Faith Brown, Fred DiMeglio, Hiller Goodspeed, Jackie Avery, Jamie Paul, Jason Miranda, Jennifer Levo, Jennifer Parks, Jimmy Cavalieri, Joanne Slorach, Lonny Hurley, Lydia Crumbly, Martha Koenig, Mary Kate McDevitt, Matt Cardinal, Michael Buchino, Michael Hyp, Ryan Sullivan, Sam Robinette, Santiago Uceda, Scott Agrimson, Ted Byram and Zack Soto have all made bike related posters, right in time with the Oregon Manifest show. Part of the project benefits Bikes for Rwanda. At the Cleaners at the Ace Hotel corner of SW Stark and 10th 5PM-11 Free



Pressed: Flora and Fauna is a show by Portland favorites Jill Bliss, Trish Grantham, Harlan Mahaffy and Becca Stadtlander. It's exactly what it sounds like, themed on flora and fauna. At Reading Frenzy www.readingfrenzy.com 921 SW Oak



Valentines has Seattle artist Jamie Potter. Music later by DJ Spencer D. At Valentines valentineslifeblood.blogspot.com 232 SW Ankeny Art 6PM-late Free

Monday, October 03, 2011

October 5 Yu Black Prairie Empty Quarter

Portland filmmakers Alain LeTourneau & Pam Minty present their landscape documentary, Empty Quarter. It's a film filled with long shots and interviews made in Southeast Oregon. You can see it at University of Portland, Buckley Center Room 163 4PM Free



Old-timey music side project of many outstanding Portland musicians, Black Prairie, plays a month of Wednesdays beginning tonight at the Laurelthirst. 2958 NE Glisan 6PM-8 Free



The Guggenheim Museum has had a romance with art and architecture. From the spectacular Frank Lloyd Wright-designed spiral in New York, to the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheims in Bilbao and now Abu Dhabi. The fantastic collection has also driven the museum to open instances in Berlin and Venice. Tonight the founding curator for Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Suzanne Cotter, speaks about her grand curatorial project and the challenges of curating across cultures. At Yu Contemporary Art www.yucontemporary.org 900 SE 10th 7PM $3-5, Free members

Saturday, October 01, 2011

October 4 Archer

Clark College is immediately to the North in Vancouver. In Washington, it's part of the Portland Art Ecosystem. The gallery in the art department, the Archer Gallery, has done a great job at bringing out of town artists for shows, including video work. They open a show of the art department faculty tonight with artists Bobby Abrahamson, Lisa Conway, Ray Cooper, Kathrena Halsinger, Beth Heron, Grant Hottle, Carson Legree, Dara Muldoon, Shawn Records, Ben Rosenberg, Blake Shell, Bradley Streeper, Senseney Stokes, Jak Tanenbaum and Sally Van Gorder. At the Clark College Archer Gallery www.clark.edu/news_events/archer/index.php. In the Penguin Union Building 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver, WA. See the campus map www.clark.edu/maps/google/index.php 4PM-6 Free