January 31 Open Source Art

Walter Benjamin's seminal essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction laid down ideas on the back end of art: from maker to the viewer experience. We are experiencing a complementary revolution on the front end, sometimes called open source art making. Social practice art is a branch. Open innovation in products and design is another. Crowdsourcing is a term often used. While a comprehensive view of the topic cannot be constructed by an individual, because the view itself is open source and evolving rapidly, there is an opportunity tonight to hear a talk about it by two individuals, Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese. Recommended. Part of a very high quality lecture series by Oregon College of Art and Craft www.ocac.edu. The talk will be held at the Portland Art Museum in the Mark Building (nee Masonic Temple) in the Miller Gallery which is immediately to the right off the lobby. Arrive early, seating is limited. 1219 SW Park 7PM Free

January 30 Trade School

There may be a Monday Night Lecture tonight, though the organizers have yet to publish it. It may be a web conference with Caroline Woolard, artist cocreator of Our Goods, a creative barter network. I've found the web conferences draw a smaller crowd and are less compelling, you can draw your own conclusions. There is also conflicting information on the time, it may be 6:30PM or the usual 7:30. 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. Free

January 29 Research Brunch

The Research Club brunch is back. They invite you to Brunch #21. Bring some vegetarian or vegan-friendly food, a plate, cup and utensils, and yourself. Listen to engaging speakers. 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

January 27 Sundry Bikes

Portland artist Micki Skudlarczyk started in ceramics like many Portland artists. I'm talking about you, Alfred grads. And like them, she has traveled far in sculpture since. A tactic is the use of materials that take us, and her, out of our comfort zones, though from a purely rational standpoint they should not. Since we are all flesh and bones, maybe we have a built in survival mechanism to not want to dig deeply under the skin. A breakthrough was on one of her international residencies in Mexico where she was able to see a cow slaughtered and butchered in the traditional way, outdoors and by hand. That inspired a series of artworks made of animal parts remaining after the meat is separated. Sundries is the meat industry term for those "miscellaneous items of little value". This show Sundries Serenade, is a continuation of that series, an installation made of skin and hooves, gently cleaned, sung to and displayed. Closing reception at Good Gallery 4325 N Mississippi 7PM-10



For the last month, the Project Grow Gallery has hosted an ever evolving sculpture show of bikes and bike part made projects: The 2012 Bicycle Experience: Prototypes, Visions & Dreams. Johhnie Olivan is one of the guest artists. His Rejuiced Bikes gathers bike parts to be reutilized, even as sculpture, instead of being melted for metal, providing one more use trip. The Portland phenomenon the Sprockettes perform too!This is the closing event for the show. At Project Grow at the Port City Development Center. 2156 N Williams Ave at Tillamook. 7PM-9 Free

Januray 26 Occupation

Brad Cloepfil created Allied Works Architecture in Portland in 1994. His initial projects include sculptural works on the Marylhurst Museum land, the W+K headquarters in an old warehouse, residences and interior projects. Since Allied has opened a New York City office and built many structures, and many of them are art museums. Tonight Cloepfil releases a book tracing their work, Occupation, and speaks about the firm's journey. It's a brief event and book signing. At the Art Museum. Regular admission applies, so you can go early and take in the entire museum, or if you are a member, you can go for free. At the Portland Art Museum www.pam.org 1219 SW Park 6PM-8 $15, free members

January 23 Camintzer

Late career conceptual artist Luis Camintzer makes installations as well as 2d work and photography of a political nature, in the broadest sense of the word. His talk is a joint production of PNCA and the PSU Monday Night 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

January 21 Lumber Place Prison Peoples

The Lumber Room hosts its second discussion with the artists of the Interior Margins show, the curator and the creator of the space. The creator of the space is an articulate art force and up to date on contemporary art. At The Lumber Room lumberroom.com 419 SW 9th, above Liz Leach Map 11AM-1PM Free



The mall galleries are open for one of their monthly confabs tonight.

Jason Starin & Daniel J Glendening open New Function - 2d and sculptures.

Gabe Flores continues Intimate Historical Fictions, large scale sculptures inspired by personal experiences.

Palma Corral has a new installation, International Paradiastole Pageant. In the installation, mannequins wear clothing made of utilitarian manufactured items with loaded associations.

Chris Freeman shows his new video I’m Getting Too Old For This, beginning at 7PM. It's a social practice open source video piece in which the artist's friends made segments themed on aging, boredom and melancholy. The artists working on the project are: Wayne Bund, Jodie Cavalier, Kristin Derryberry, Petra Fortes-Schramm, Adrienne Huckabone, Kayla Martin, Brandon McWilliams, Joe Noreen, Portia Roy and Jamie Marie Waelchli.

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 Free



Adjacent to Place, The Peoples Art of Portland opens "People of Peoples", work by Ali Schlicting, Anna Magruder, Brin Levinson, Chris Haberman, Chuck Bloom, Dan Pillers, Heidi Elise Wirz, Jen Berry, Jesse Reno, Joel Barber, Joshua Abraham, Kendra Binney, Kyle Gossman, Larry Christensen, Matt Schlosky, Patrice Demmon, Robert Paulmenn, Sam Arneson, Roger Lealamanua and Wellie Glenn with poster artists EMEK, GUYBURWELL and Gary Houston. 5PM-9




This show is well worth seeing. The hue of a repeating graphic covering the main space walls entirely is lit with green and yellow light, producing a disconcerting feeling opposite the usually calming use of those colors in institutions. Peter Haley a well known late career artist presents Prison, a graphic work consuming the walls at Disjecta, in the shadow of Paul Bunyan www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate Map 6PM-9 Free

January 19 Art Spark

Art Spark is back at the Mt Tabor Theater, below the snow line. www.portlandartspark.com At Mt. Tabor Theatre, 4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd 5PM-7 Free

January 18 Biophilia Papermaking Happiness

Portland is one of America's best examples of new urbanism. We have a climate that gives us plenty of options for urban plantlife. Those plants are breathing in carbon dioxide and breathing out oxygen too. Can we go further with plantlife in our cities? Timothy Beatley believes so. Biophilic Cities: Integrating Nature into Urban Design and Planning is his book detailing those thoughts. He believes plantlife can cover roofs, the walls of buildings, the medians between sidewalks and the streets, everywhere. Why? The biophilia hypothesis, coined by the great Edward O Wilson, proposes humans have an innate drive to experience other living things. Beatley gives a talk this evening about his work. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson Map 6:30PM Free



PNCA hosts a master papermaker talk this evening too. Paul Wong visits from New York's
Dieu Donné where he makes paper by hand in support of artist projects. At the PNCA www.pnca.edu The Bison Building, the MFA in Applied Craft and Design Studios 421 NE 10th 6:30PM Free



The Economics of Happiness is a new film by Helena Norberg-Hodge and coworkers at the International Society for Ecology and Culture. That group has worked extensively in Ladakh, in Northern India. The film is a call for local economics from worldwide leaders in sustainability. At adxportland.com 417 SE 11th x Stark Map 5:30PM Free

January 14 American Medium

American Medium is a project in New York by Travis Fitzgerald and Josh Pavlacky from Appendix Project Space in collaboration with Daniel Wallace of Extra Extra. Their first show will be Jon Rafman in April. But they are having a celebration tonight with photos of the space and samples of the work. At Publication Studio 717 SW Ankeny 6PM-8 Free

January 13 Interior Appendix Bot

Jasper Spicero presents Interiors, based on video game rendering technology. He is an intermedia student at PNCA. At Appendix Project Space www.appendixspace.com On the alley between 26th and 27th, South of Alberta. Map 6:30-10ish Free



Jess Fogel shows her illustrations at Albina Press. Fogel also illustrates children's books, so good happy Winter art is forecast. At Albina Press, 4637 N. Albina x Blandena 6PM Free



Not art but tool: Pocketfactory loaded their Prius with a couple of Makerbots, Kinects and software and are on a cross country road trip to demonstrate it. They have a concept for a company that manufactures one-of or small quantities of design and craft items using bot magic. The Makerbot is a relatively inexpensive 3d printer. You can see videos of it in action. In a very meta move, key parts of the Makerbot can be made by a Makerbot - robots making robots! What it makes comes from plugging it into your computer. The design can be made by 3d drawing and design software. A shortcut is a 3d scanner. Open source software can be used to turn a Kinect into a scanner! For artists it can be a sculpture factory. At Brainsilo www.brainsilo.org map 6PM-9 Free

January 12 Tripper Museum

Every month the Art Museum invites an artist to select a work from the collection, then give a talk about it to an intimate crowd, which might include you. This month, choreographer and modern dancer Tahni Holt speaks. Holt is known for brainy architectural dance works, and participatory works in the social practice world. 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 $15, $5 members



Tripper Dungan makes bright lowbrow illustration. Trippy! At Black Wagon blackwagon.com 3964 N Mississippi Map 5PM-7 Free

January 12-14 Flamenco!

This blog has been a champion of flamenco and Portland has had flamenco hot flashes. With teachers moving on, it's been quieter for flamenco in town. But it's always a pleasure when we have a visit from out of town performers. Noche Flamenca is the world touring project of Soledad Barrio, and her ensemble of additional dancers and musicians. They are presented by White Bird www.whitebird.org in the Newmark Theater 7:30PM $25-60

January 9 Global City?

Is Portland a Global City? A destination for travelers like Barcelona, Venice, Kyoto, Shanghai, Geneva? We could do better. How about creative companies or even major companies inlocating? John Jay has a vision for the next generation of Portland. It's Portland as the creative persons' destination. Part of the plan is a small creative business incubator and travelers' hostel in gritty Chinatown. PIE has gained rapid success. Is this PIE II? Hear Jay, who spends quite a bit of time in the world's major creative cities propose Portland's possibilities and challenges in attaining a vision of Global City. It's part of the City Club's Bright Lights Series, a gathering of planners, architects and interesting people to hear discussions, primarily of urban planning. At Jimmy Mak's, 221 NW 10th Map Doors 5:30PM, discussion 6. Free

January 8 Anonymous Pattern Sampling People

Do people sample patterns or do patterns sample people? Does the essence lie in the sample or does it reside in the viewer? The Pattern People are visual samplers. This show of their work, titled Collision, would not have been technically possible only a short time back. The Pattern People, Claudia Brown and Jessie Whipple Vickery, based in Portland-London sample the visual world and remix it into surface design. It can take the form of fabric, wall paper, murals, packaging or illustration. To me it has a great feel, that can surely be evolved to stay fresh. And I think we are able to simultaneously respond to all the associations in the source material. At Stumptown Belmont 3356 SE Belmont 6PM-8 Free


Usually the Marylhurst Art Gym is a space for regional mid-career artists to show. A small number of them are high concept or conceptual. The curation, which has been very consistent, is anything but high concept. So this show is a surprise. The show has been put together by a guest curator from Bogota Columbia. And the artists are anonymous: they have made an agreement with the space thus:

Agreement: You, “Artist D” are entering into an agreement with the “Curator” and The Art Gym. Both “Artist D” and “Curator” agree to never confirm your participation in this exhibition to the press, Art Gym museum staff members, students, other artists, friends, family, or anybody who might fall outside of this list. Your participation will not be listed on any press materials, statements or documents outside of this one. If a direct question is asked of your participation a straight lie of, “no, I have nothing to do with any of this” is perfectly acceptable. Upon signature of this contract, your authorship is officially obscured.

Artists A, B, C, D, E & F each had different experiences, and it's fascinating to read about it on the gallery website. Better yet, match each narrative with the work by visiting. There will also be a gallery talk January 12, noon. At the Marylhurst Art Gym at the Marylhurst University www.marylhurst.edu/theartgym/ Map 3PM-5 Free

January 7 Pure Collection Gallery

Ampersand Vintage is a Portland amalgam of fine and found, cheesy and meaty, photography and 2-dimensional ephemera. Tonight they open two shows of found, covering all those ingredients. Robert E. Jackson has been an obsessive 15 year collector of snapshots. Ampersand is publishing a book, Pure Photography, based on that collection. Ampersand also collects vintage snapshots. Tonight they open a show of Jackson and Ampersand photographic findings. At Apmersand Vintage Printed Material www.ampersandvintage.com 2916 NE Alberta, Ste B. Map 6PM-10 Free

January 6 Eastside Art Openings

The new year finds some galleries carrying shows from December, or vacationing. Others have adopted mid-month openings as a regular strategy. But there are some notable shows opening tonight.



Highlighter is a show of painting with artists Amy Bernstein, James Boulton, John Brodie, Timothy Scott Dalbow, Marie Koetje and K Scott Rawls. It will be bright and perky.

It also wins the copywriting award for the month: "[the curators] openly engage with the now in order to emphasize the heuristic energy guiding such innovation in the first place. Through a shared language of brilliant colors and jostling patterns, inspired in part by the excess of modern culture, the canvases of [the artists] function as a playground for symbolic and formal invention. However, despite such non-representational tendencies, the works ultimately renounce the highbrow tenets of traditional abstraction in favor of more relatable, personal experiences. Like an aesthetic transubstantiation, the act of painting converts momentarily from a studied medium to a mean for catharsis as the artists attempt to decipher society’s fraught existence through each arresting stroke. Whatever the end result, it is always this encounter that matters most for, as Mr. Dalbow avows, 'each painting is an excuse to ask the question again.'"

At Nationale thenewnationale.com 811 E Burnside Map Free



As population growth slows, people migrate away from small towns. Despite our web of electronic connections, we prefer to touch in person. So we have ghost towns in America. The same can be found worldwide. In the heady days of the Soviet Union, the tiny town of Tiski, Тикси, was settled by scientists and the military as a research outpost in the far North on the Arctic Sea. January high temperatures average -36F. Although the republic in which Tiksi lies is rich in natural resources, they are all mined far to the South in towns served by rail. In contrast, the only way to get to Tiksi, above the Arctic Circle, is by charter plane. Now it is becoming abandoned. Photographer Evgenia Arbugaeva was born in Tiksi, and lived there until 8. At 26, she returned to document the town disappearing through the lens of her memories. She focuses on the built environment, and experiences of the remaining residents, including children, who have the infinite landscape as playground. This is her first solo show in the United States, a great accomplishment for Newspace. At Newspace Photo www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th Map Free



Emily Bixler shows necklace-like sculptures or sculptural necklaces made of industrial materials. They work. Blair Saxon-Hill shows her halftone collages, work she pioneered at Fourteen30 gallery. Very high quality in both cases, and they fit well together, even if the large space gives both a chance to breathe. At Union/Pine www.unionpine.com 525 SE Pine 7Pm-late Free



Cheyenne Sawyer of Atlas Tattoo shows her illustrations. At Albina Press East 5012 SE Hawthorne 6PM-8 Free

January 5 Westside Art Openings

Robert Frank is a classic photographer known for a 28,000 image series of portraits, The Americans, made 55 years ago. Those stunning black and white images pioneered unusual framing, which would not be foreign to today's hipstamatic snappers. Frank grew up in Switzerland and came to the United States at age 24. With his outsiders' eye, he began the epic documentary project at 31. Americans, made throughout the United States over 2 years, captured an impressionistic view of a country on the verge of the 1960's intensity. He continued working and Blue Sky last showed his work in 1981. Frank's new Blue Sky show is Painkillers, a series of prints from Polaroids selected with the participation of Blue Sky from the photographer's archives. They cover the 1970's to today. Frank usually shows international museums, This month he shows at Blue Sky.


Also Karen Miranda-Rivadeneira shows Bliss Street, photos of her extended family's home in New York.

At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9



Ethan Rose shows Reflection, a sculptural installation with unique bells. Today anyone implementing a bell would synthesize it, or record one, then simply play it back over a loudspeaker. Rose started with mechanical bells, like something from an old factory, with exposed mechanisms. The striker is motivated by sending electricity through a coil of wire, clearly visible. There are ten bells on one wall of the gallery. On the facing wall are ten speakers. Rose recorded each bell, then reversed the recording in time, the sound of the bell backwards. One recording plays, from the soft decay to the strike. At that moment the corresponding bell rings, then decays. The process repeats, with electronic recordings of the bells overlapping with the actual bells. It's worth spending time with it sometime when the gallery is not crowded. It's quite stunning. Rose has also made a very reasonably priced editioned recording of the installation. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM



SCOOP 6PM continues until January 14 at UofO's White Box Gallery. Dustin Zemel's multi-channel video piece uses local television news, acted by local artists. Each of the seven "newscasts" covers the same story, differently. At the University of Oregon White Box Gallery whitebox.uoregon.edu. 24 NW 1st



Hellion has Internal: Apprentice, Intern Assistant, Talent with Joey Alvarez, Joseph Bergin III, Alex Despain and Christa Mariottini. 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



Camera Obscura: Outside In(n) is a show of pinhole rephotography by Darius Kuzmickas. The camera obscura is an early imaging system, in which a lens or pinhole lens casts an image in a darkened room from the world outside. Kuzmickas used hotel rooms and apartments as camera obscura, then photographed portraits lit by the obscura images. If you know anything about optics, that the images are inverted should not surprise, nonetheless the result is striking. He also includes a series of ironic sunset photos made by the same process, Ocean Pinholes: Sunset. At Stumptown www.stumptowncoffee.com 128 SW 3rd 6PM-8



Illustrated is a show of illustration work by Meredith Butner, Jess Fogel, Lily Gilbert, Amy Ruppel, and Lisa Schonberg. Curated by Iris Porter. At Valentines valentineslifeblood.blogspot.com 232 SW Ankeny Art 6PM-late Free



Augen has a group show. It's a good opportunity to see the span of aesthetics the gallery supports. Artists include Deanne Belinoff, Bill Brewer, Sally Cleveland, Jonnel Covault, John Dempcy, Trish Grantham, Jef Gunn, Chris Kelly, Eva Lake, Royal Nebeker, Jim Riswold and Mary Wells. At Augen Gallery www.augengallery.com 716 NW Davis early close 8



PSU has a show by students who participated in their program in Italy, Summer last year. The artists are Artists are William Bruno, Fara Di Noto, Stephanie Drachman, Gabriela Golez, Yibo Lu, Robert McKirdie, Riley Werner and Amanda Wilcox. At PSU MK Gallery in the PSU Art Department Building, Second Floor, Room 207, 2000 SW 5th 5PM-7



The myriad galleries at the Everett lofts are always recommended. At the Everett Lofts 625 NW Everett. Bounded by NW Everett, Broadway, Flanders and 6th Map

January 3 Cats!

This is primarily a visual arts blog, with excursions into contemporary performance and worldchanging. But we love it when Portland creative communities cross boundaries as with the Fin de Cinema series. The event pairs an iconic or ironic film with a live soundtrack provided by a bevy of Portland's most interesting musicians. Tonight it is the 1963 Cassandra Cat from Czech director Vojtěch Jasný, now at SVA. It has something to do with a magical circus cat who reveals the true motivations of individuals, which of course is threatening to society. It's a technical accomplishment in its time; hand coloring, optical printer? Live musical accompaniment is provided by Typhoon, Tu Fawning and Brainstorm, with DJ Coldyron and DJ Pattern and Shape. At Holocene www.holocene.org 1001 SE Morrison 8:30PM $6