Friday, December 27, 2013

December 27 Free Bacon!

Tonight after 5 the Museum has free admission. It's also an opportunity to see the Frances Bacon triptych, Three Studies of Lucian Freud. Let's just say it's been in the news. And you can see the Samurai exhibit for the low price of $5. These Fridays really give the museum a sense of life. At the Portland Art Museum www.pam.org 1219 SW Park 5PM-8 Free

Saturday, December 21, 2013

December 22 Pray in You're Way

The earliest recorded history comes from civilizations built on slaves. Those civilizations left behind spiritual ruins, many of which can be visited today. In that period, the smartest and most creative often served the emperor or the church. Sometimes they were one. Today, the smartest and most creative have a myriad of options, thankfully.

The early period creatives realized that grand architecture was a spiritual attraction. It wowed. The spiritual experience is a neurochemical phenomena, and those soaring buildings, music and ritual make it happen. Those creatives set about building stunning temples, many with architectural innovations, to inspire. The proportions of the Parthenon, the arch of the Grand Mosque, the buttresses of Notre Dame, the extent of the Tōdai-ji, Pueblo kivas.

So church architecture is its own genre. Modern examples include Gaudí's Sagrada Família, Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple, Louis Kahn's First Unitarian Church.

Artists are sampling churches. Damien Hirst has made kaleidoscopic compositions of famous stained glass work. And in Portland, artists Matt Henderson and Van Pham, living in a church, have traveled to churches all over the country which have been repurposed. The new churches are rock gyms, donut shops, band rehearsal studios, residences and more. Their project is Xhurch.

In past years they created the alien nativity scene, one of Portland's most perfectly formed art events. Tonight they bring their reports of Xhurches to you.

Accompanying the Xhurch field trip images and video are performances and art by Golden Retriever, Earth & You, Brenna Murphy, Scott Mayoral, Bike Temple, Emily Pothast, David Golightly, Guru Rugu, Sisters of the Lattice, and the Institute for New Feeling.

Where? Well, in an xhurch: Alberta Abbey.

M.A.S.S. IV + Xhurches Symposium at Alberta Abby. Advance tickets https://www.boxofficetickets.com/bot/wa/event?id=255713. 126 NE Alberta Street 8PM by donation to $15

Saturday, December 14, 2013

December 16 Getting to Know One

Getting to Know YouTube collaborators Crystal Baxley and Stefan Ransom celebrate the anniversary of the monthly series. They are one! So after seeing all those months of stuff, they are laying down their own favorites. At Getting to Know You(Tube) www.gettingtoknowyoutube.com at the Hollywood Theater www.hollywoodtheatre.org 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard. 7:30PM $5



Illustration central Pony Club is also having a benefit sale of work tonight. There should be a cornucopia of great art for the right reason. Art party and sale with a live band. At the Cleaners at the Ace Hotel. SW Stark and 10th. 6PM-10 Free

December 14 Moar Arts

Art is like food. If it tastes good, it is good. In other words, aesthetics are individual; good and bad are a neural response. Good and bad are also mutually self defining. Often people form tribes or subcultures around their aesthetics, and social processes contribute to neuroaesthetics. At Portlandorusnow, we operate in the gallery-museum chain of being, art school, art export, experimental and front edge aesthetic subcultures. But in Portland, there are dozens of other aesthetic tribes.

The Big 400 is a celebration of that.

There is a good argument that this format for a show began in Portland, 2001, with the Charm Bracelet: Meeting People show in Oak Street Lofts. That event was organized by Brad Adkins and Chris Buckingham. Its opening was also an early social practice art project.

This version began with Chris Haberman and Jason Brown in 2007 in the Olympic Mills building. Olympic Mills developer Brad Malsin has consistently focused his historic reuse projects on small creative business, and art has been a branding element for his projects. Operating as Po Boy Art, Haberman and Brown have long curated the Goodfoot monthly art shows. The Goodfoot built on the art, music, beer model of the Blue Gallery, one of the first Pearl district galleries. And art shows are one of Portland's most vital social processes, magnetic attractors within their tribes. So we have several entwined virtuous cycles.

And there are really few cities in the world with the density, demographic structure and values for this phenomena.

Tonight 4-500 artists have made up to 10 pieces, 8"x8", for a total of more than 4000 works for sale, for $40 each. The works are labeled only on the back, and are in no particular order. This event is quite popular so many people arrive at the opening. If you find something you like, take it off the wall, and take it to the checkout. Cash or credit. Instant karma.

The price of admission is a can of food for the Oregon Food Bank. And you can do the math, a commercial gallery would be happy with the show's 10 hour revenue. Even the ultra conservative Portland Business Alliance sees value in art. 1000 free parking vouchers are available at the mall guest desk - lower floor - for the Smart Park directly East of the mall. Of course you can go by train, bus or bike too.

The Big 400 at the People's Art of Portland www.peoplesartofportland.com 700 SW 5th 2PM-9 Can of food

Friday, December 13, 2013

December 13 - 14 What Mean We, American?

Americans are cowboys. The impact of the infinite frontier on American culture was laid out in Walter Prescott Webb's book The Great Frontier. He was from Texas, which takes those ideas further than most states. The freedom to experiment and to live large free from the social constraints of, say Japan, has made for some ironic, living large, absurd, cultural memes. It all makes sense, in the context of signaling theory and evolutionary psychology.

American ME is a dance theater romp inspired by some of Americans' odder cultural expositions in the context of, for most, a passing American dream.

Director, Mizu Diserto and collaborators Stephanie Lanckton, Douglas Allen & Nathan HG, collaboratively developed the material over many months. They all have a great sense of humor, so expect that. With Roland Toledo, sound design and Ian Lucero, film.

See American ME At the Headwaters Theater, 55 NE Farragut St. #9. The theater is in the back of the building by the active railroad tracks facing Winchell Street. Map Friday 8PM, Saturday 6PM,8PM. Students, artists, seniors $12, $15

December 13 La Canada

This gallery has a relationship with Los Angeles. That means they have a better idea than most Portlander's about what art is collected in Los Angeles. Tonight Pieces by Canadian artist living in LA, Monique Mouton opens. At Portland's only member of the New Art Dealers Alliance www.newartdealers.org, Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 1501 SW Market Street Map 6PM-8

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

December 12-13 Seavision: More Benning Than Hirst

The sea. Buried in our genome is an attraction, yet unexplained by science. You know.

This special event represents a collaboration between long running film archivists, the Cinema Project, and the most unusual underground art gallery in Portland, instantiating on a retiring ocean-going vessel.

The films tonight are themed on sea. The films of Jean Painlevé are star. Painlevé, who lived from 1902-1989, built a studio by the Normandy sea. He built film lenses to film sometimes microscopic sea life in aquariums he constructed, or built underwater breathing equipment to film in the ocean itself. His work was revived by American musicians Yo La Tengo who set improvisational scores on Painlevé, many of whose works were created in the silent era with subtitles. Perfect. Also on the program are filmmakers David Gatten and Alex Mackenzie. Gatten, in his What the Water Said series, uses seawater to alter the chemistry of film. Mackenzie presents a double projection made at the sea.

Recommended. Highly. Dress very, very, warmly, the projection space on the river is not heated, and allow time to get lost en route.

At the 12128 Labrador Project http://www.12128boatspace.com/ It's moored by Fred's Marina 12900 NW Marina Way, Portland. Map More detailed directions, don't get lost, on the website. 7:30PM $8

December 11 Crafty Vixen

This blog does not often cover craft in Portland. It's big. Fortunately craft in Portland is a little different. It is often contemporary and idea-based, as opposed to exclusively tradition-based. The Oregon College of Arts and Crafts + PNCA MFA program magnets to idea-based work. I have always been pleasantly surprised by the work seen and conversations had at this yearly studio opening.

Artists Ximena Bedoya, Reese Bowes, Leah Brottman, Meghan Chalmers-Mcdonald, Jennifer Cooke, Gopika Dahanukar, Willow D’arcy, Sarah Davis, Shawn Daughton, Richard Decker, Christian Donnelly, Joey Edwards, Sam Estrella, Jadene Fourman, Meghann Gilligan, Marie Goebel, Elizabeth Goltz, Daniel Hodges, Brian Hutsebout, Alyssa Kail, Edward Key, Bukola Koiki, Rachel Mckenna, Cecelia Murphy, Ryan Newson, Tyler Peterson, Nicholas Parker, James Rouse, Michael Schnitman, Alisha Sullivan, Caitlin Sweet, Lange Wei and Emily Wyant show. At the PNCA www.pnca.edu The Bison Building, the MFA in Applied Craft and Design Studios 421 NE 10th 6PM-9 Free

Sunday, December 08, 2013

December 8 Deluxe Bear Front

Front is a slim journal broadsheet style. It is focused on writing about dance and contemporary performance. It is written by the performers, not critics. Front edition 3: Rubies drops today. The party is free, the paper itself is $4, and also available around town. Front distribution party at PICA HQ 415 SW 10th Ave, Suite 300. 5PM-7 Free



I always think of the journal Orlo as something that could only exist in Portland, Oregon, US. It is a long running curation of the intersection of the literary arts, the visual arts and a reverence for the environment. More than a few writers have written in Orlo's Bear Deluxe before their breakthrough books. Tonight is their annual holiday party and issue 35 release. The event includes live music and readings. There is also an opportunity for photos with Santa Salmon from 5PM-6:30. Details and schedule at www.orlo.org/news/holiday-gala-release-party/#more-661. Orlo party at Ford Food and Drink 2505 SE 11th 5PM-10 Free, donations encouraged

Thursday, December 05, 2013

December 6 Appendix Adieu

The other big happy trails tonight is Appendix Project Space. It has operated in a series of garages off Alberta alleys. Hope their website is maintained as record to amazing art shows, including first American shows from world artists. The landlord is changing up the house in the late stage of neighborhood gentrification. And the remaining organizers are moving to New York. They release their book, a record of all the shows, published by Container Corp tonight. We are missing the hay bales and we'll miss the campfire. But we know the principals are going to do more better. Appendix Project Space www.appendixspace.com On the alley between 26th and 27th, South of Alberta. Map 7-late Free

December 5 Westside Art Openings

Grass Hut Gallery has been online for a long time. Their curatorial vision needs an audience beyond Portland the interwebs provide. In its Burnside location, it was one of the best clubhouses in Portland. Not only a gallery, but a studio inside out to the world in a glass box. It was a strong contributor to the 811 vibe in its own special snowflake way. It also found home cohabiting with two locations of the Floating World world of comics and graphic novels. I'm sure the Grass Hut sculptures and paintings went to sleep with a smile each night surrounded by a room full of graphic energy. The Grass Hut has its last show tonight before returning to an online-only business. Stop by and send them off on their continuing adventure. And like them in the online world, because they will continue to have new cool artworks for sale there. Grass Hut in Floating World. www.grasshutcorp.com 400 NE Couch



Augen has Trish Grantham with illustration work and Mary Hinckley with geometric work in glass. Grantham is one of the hardest working artists in Portland and you have seen her work. It equally makes a home in the imagination of adults and children. While the bird-on-it-brand seems to have stuck to Portland, Grantham's signage for local businesses has equal stature in placemaking here. At Augen Gallery www.augengallery.com 716 NW Davis early close 8



Crystal Schenk is a perfect match for the Bullseye glass studio residency. She has always been very adventurous in materials and we can't wait to see the result. At Bullseye Glass Gallery www.bullseyegallery.com 300 NW 13th



Portland is filled with individuals who have done amazing things. One is Manya Shapiro. She was right there working along side the feminist artists of the 1970's whose names you had to study in school. Her new show is Tiny Dresses. She and her family have been one of the top supporters of the arts in Portland for a generation. Founding board member and key visionary for PICA. At Annie Meyer Artwork Gallery 120 NW 9th #102


Desire Path is a show of illustration by Jen Lobo. At Hellion Gallery www.helliongallery.com through the lobby of the arched brick entry, up the stairs and to the back. Very upper floor Japan-style. 19 NW 5th Suite 208. Map 7PM-10 Free



Though a small fraction of Americans, about fifteen percent deny it, the earth is warming. One result if more wildfire. David Nadel shows Burns, photographs of post burn landscapes in Montana. It's a good thing they have coal and natural gas to fall back on there. New Orleans is its own place. It has different law. It has many charming traditions. Its sinking. But it also has the second highest murder rate in the country, about fifteen times that of Portland. Tooth for an Eye is a series of photographs by Deborah Luster of the sites in New Orleans of murders. The photographs are remote in time from the actual event but are accompanied by narratives of the murders. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9



American photographer Harry Callahan lived from 1912 to 1999. Over that time he made photographs in monochrome and color, developed a double exposure aesthetic and taught at RISD. Usually you would see his work in museums. But you can see it tonight in a small Portland gallery, free.
At Charles Hartman Fine Art www.hartmanfineart.net 134 NW 8th



Everett Lofts are recommended as always. It's easier for you to see them all than for me to write suggestions. Some close as early as 9PM. At the Everett Lofts 625 NW Everett. Bounded by NW Everett, Broadway, Flanders and 6th Map closing ranges from 9PM-10:30ish



Likewise there are always good shows at PNCA, so stop by. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson Map



Friday, November 22, 2013

November 23 Never Bored

Should you be bored this weekend? Never! And once the last sun ever for ever goes down tonight you can stop by the Portland Museum of Modern Art closing event for their current show, Primitive Moderne: The Art of Mr. Otis. The Woolen Men and Half Shadow are musicing and some people will reading short stories. At the Portland Museum of Modern Art inside Mississippi Records www.portlandmuseumofmodernart.com 5202 N Albina Map 8PM-10 Free

November 22 Funding Tactics

Recess continues its social practice engagement. Emerging Tactics: Our Ordinary Lives is a show of engagements of Goods and Services (reprise) by Industry of the Ordinary, kimchi of here* by Grace Hwang and Untitled (Audio Interviews with Artists) by Crystal Baxley & Stefan Ransom. You can read eloquent descriptions on their FB, or just go and see. Which you should. At RECESS recessart.com at Oregon Brassworks Building, 1127 SE 10th Map 6PM-9 Free



The MFA art program at PSU needs fundage. So they have invited artists from their network local and afar to contribute works of art for a silent auction. Considering their stable, this event should be well worth visiting. This event is publicized to a small audience, so just tell them you were invited because you are a supporter of PSU and the arts, which you should be. PSU MFA Studio Visiting Artist Lecture Series Benefit Auction. PSU School of Art + Design Building, 2000 SW 5th. 5PM-10 $10

Saturday, November 16, 2013

November 16 Who's Who in Whoville?

Alternative art spaces in Portland are often a narrative past. We are inventing the future in Portland, Oregon, US now. So alternative art spaces are a narrative future too.

Alternative art groups, in their time, resulted in the Portland Art Museum. Portland Center for Visual Arts (1972-1988) had its past sun-in-moment. Many, many past influential alt spaces, meetups and one-time events have each contributed greatly to the Portland cultural foment.

Spanning past and now, art and culture, is Disjecta. Disjecta has had its share of landlord negotiations. And it has landed in a low key space in Kenton that is thriving. Throughout its time and spaces, it has attracted in town and out of town emerging, recognized and established artists. If you are interested in visual arts and performing arts, Disjecta should be on your radar.

Tonight is Disjecta's annual art auction fundraiser. Artist donations to non-profits and the value of art are a serious question in need of discussion. But if you look at the artists participating tonight, you will see some of Portland's best voting with their feet by walking in.

Those artistic labors of love mate with lovers of art tonight. If you have some spare duckets and fall in love with a work that would give you pleasure gracing your walls, do it. If you want to meet artists and lovers of the arts come. If you want a well curated survey of most of Portland's top contemporary artists come.

At PortlandORUSNow, we are all about artists. So we laud Disjecta providing links to each artist. They are Delaney Allen, Corey Arnold, Hayley Barker, Avantika Bawa, Mike Bray, Wayne Bund, Ben Buswell, Vanessa Calvert, Calvin Ross Carl, Lea Cetera, Sang-ah Choi, Deville Cohen, Claire Cowie, Alex Dolan, Daniel Duford, David Eckard, Tia Factor, Leiv Fagereng, Eric Fischl, Melanie Flood, Chris Fraser, Damien Gilley, Daniel Glendening, Sean Healy, Vlatka Horvat, Grant Hottle, Chris Johanson & Jo Jackson, Courtney Kemp, Eva Lake, Ruth Lantz, Kendra Larson, Marne Lucas, Shana Lutker, D.E. May, Jeffry Mitchell, Akihiko Miyoshi, Donald Morgan, Emily Nachison, Jenene Nagy, Virginia Overton, Jacob Pander, Virginia Poundstone, Ralph Pugay, Paula Rebsom, Blair Saxon-Hill, Heidi Schwegler, Susan Seubert, Jeff Sheridan, Marie Sivak, Ashley Sloan, Adam Sorensen, Eva Speer, Whiting Tennis, Nathanael Thayer Moss, and Jen Wall. Music by DJ Cooky Parker.

At Disjecta, in the shadow of Paul Bunyan www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate Map 7PM-10/11/12 $25 online $30 door



If you would like to get your prefunk on, I would strongly suggest you get to Place tonight. The Portland MAX Yellow Line is a direct connect. Place has Dreamscapes, Big Booty Bounce, Essentially Didactic, Retritus and Dark Element. You can't go wrong based on the implied narrative of the titles. But there is more.

Artist, curator Tori Abernathy combines social practice into curation and art making. Dreamscapes is a documentation of dreaming, or its prohibition, in public places.

J.P. Huckins mixes visual production and performance. J.P. is not afraid of risk, unlike 99.99999 percent of Portland, and 99 percent of humanity. He is undertaking an endurance performance in booty shaking. Twerk on!

Mark Martínez has Essentially Didactic, a meditation on identity. And finishing out earlier running shows are Karah Bruce-Larkin with Retritus on collecting the physical object and Emily Nachison's Dark Element from one of Portland's finest idea-based installationists.

At Place, www.placepdx.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall along with the People's art of Portland and the Woolley Gallery. 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, sometimes the bridge on the 3rd floor is open too. 700 SW Fifth. 5PM-9 Free

At the same location, the Mark Woolley Gallery and People's Art of Portland may have events. Free

Sunday, November 10, 2013

November 11 Turn That Video Up To 11

Getting To Know You(Tube) has presenters Avantika Bawa, Beth Herman and Krystal South tonight. At Getting to Know You(Tube) www.gettingtoknowyoutube.com at the Hollywood Theater www.hollywoodtheatre.org 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard 7:30PM $5



Meanwhile if you are up in Washington, my dear friends perform their annual movement work in the forest to celebrate the spawning of salmon on a small undammed river in the rainforest. The annual 11/11 performance.

Thursday, November 07, 2013

November 7 Westside Art Openings

MSHR is Birch Cooper and Brenna Murphy. They build installations, they build analog physical synths, and they perform them together live together. Some of the most creative work going on in Portland and the world is noticing too. Get there early. Performance roughly 7:30. Did we say this is recommended? A-OK. At UpFor Gallery www.upforgallery.com 929 NW Flanders 6PM-9 Free



Craig Hickman is a photographer, cofounder of Blue Sky Gallery and professor of art at University of Oregon. He has made photographs of goings on in Portland and Eugene since the mid-1960's. Portland Creative Community 1.0 is his time capsule opened tonight. Friends, lovers, events, visitors, protests, politics in his creative world are all there. For you. At the University of Oregon White Stag Building, http://whitebox.uoregon.edu/ 70 NW Couch Free



I know a cartographer or two which includes GIS now. So I'm looking forward to Cartographers Delight, a show by Maxime Francout (france), Cecilie Ellefsen (Norway), Courtney Blazon (us), Mar Hernandez (spain), Belicta Castelbarco (Italy/Germany), Carolin Lobbert (germany), Becca Stadtlander (us), Mark Giglio – Penpencilstencil (us), Marcus Schafer (Germany), William Buzzell (us), Gregory Euclide (us), David Fullarton (us) and Sylvie Faur (france). Along with Under a Veil of Frost by Melinda Josie. At Hellion Gallery www.helliongallery.com through the lobby of the arched brick entry, up the stairs and to the back. Very upper floor Japan-style. 19 NW 5th Suite 208. Map 7PM-10 Free



As mentioned, a big national late career show visiting Portland is Ann Hamilton. Hamilton has been at installation, sculpture and wall pieces with strong materials, sometimes fabric, words and video. Well worth studying the work in person, beyond books and the web. See last week's notes here for more details. At Elizabeth Leach Gallery www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th Map 6PM-9 Free



A Series of Rectangles is a show by local conceptual minimalists Anna Gray + Ryan Wilson Paulsen. They do it well where fail is easy. Along with artist, playwright, writer Tad Savinar, who presents I wonder. Savinar tends to be a little more explicit, owing his fascination with language. All around a good pairing. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM Free



Danish artist Susanne Wellm shows Inner Landscapes, intimate photographs. Intimate in a less prosaic way is Joshua Lutz with Hesitating Beauty. He has recontextualized family snapshots into the experience of caring for his mother going through psychosis. Sometimes you are in the mood for a good romcom or gaming and sometimes your in the mood for real. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9 Free



I haven't made up my mind about this. Here we have a relationship between a brand, shoe company Vans and artists. Vans was formed in Orange County in 1966, and made the skate shoe business when skating was early. This would also be early in the exmigration of families from LA, South, and before the Valley, North, filled. Bought in 2004, Vans is part of the company that is 20X, 7 For All Mankind, Bulwark, Eagle Creek, Eastpak, Ella Moss, Horace Small, lucy, Napapijri, JanSport, Kipling, Lady Lee Riders, Lee, Majestic, Nautica, Red Kap, Reef, Riders by Lee, Rock, Republic, Rustler, Smartwool, Splendid, The North Face, Timberland, Vans, Wrangler, Done Right, Downtown Showdown, Earthkeepers, Feels Good, Get What Fits, Green Index, Hard Working Jeans … Guaranteed, Inspired by Travel, Instantly Slims You, Long Live Cowboys, Never Stop Exploring, NEW DIMENSION, Off the Wall, Real. Comfortable. Jeans., S. Café, Storm Rider, Triple Crown of Surfing, We Are Animals. Sort of like P&G, brandwise. That big company grosses about 10B and nets about 1B yearly. Respectable gross margin. This a show of artists connected to Vans, branded Vans and with their own sticky paper on Facebook and Eventbrite to collect your identity. Anyway, I hope the art is good and that some duckets are flowing in the direction of the artists. The big shoe company and the ad agency do support artists, but with less incest between the company brand and the artist brand. Vans artists tour with Marco Zamora, Rich Jacobs, Nathaniel Russell, Tim Kerr, Zio Ziegler, Jai Tanju, Neil Blender, Chris Yormick, Russ Pope and Jay Howell. At Compound Gallery www.compoundgallery.com 107 NW 5th 6PM-10 Free



All encaustic all the time. Somehow Butters gallery has become a concentration point for encaustic painting. Is wax just butter with a higher melting point? Tonight, Infused - encaustic painting by Jeffrey Hirst, List Pressman, Elise Wagner and Kathleen Waterloo, opens. Alongside work by Carolyn Cole. At Butters Gallery www.buttersgallery.com 520 NW Davis, 2nd Floor 6PM-9:30 Free



There are a bunch of things going on tonight at PNCA and you should go. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson Free



Everett Lofts are recommended as always. It's easier for you to see them all than for me to write suggestions. Some close as early as 9PM. At the Everett Lofts 625 NW Everett. Bounded by NW Everett, Broadway, Flanders and 6th Map closing ranges from 9PM-10:30ish Free

Saturday, November 02, 2013

November 2 Talk Talk Talk

The Lumber Room has former Yu curator Sandra Perceval in residence as Zena Zezza. In connection with the current show by Josiah McElheny, artist Ann Hamilton speaks today on The Abstract Body & Fashion along with academic Jessica Burstein. After will be a screening of a video Triadisches Ballett by Oskar Schlemmer, first performed in 1922. Schlemmer is known for innovation in live performance at the Bauhaus. This is an interesting combination of elements which we are curious to see.

A recent Hamilton piece is The Event of a Thread, curated by Kristy Edmunds in the cavernous Park Avenue Armory, New York City. The piece comprises dozens of paired swings, each holding one or two people. A system of pulleys moves a specific suspension point in a large white cloth curtain as determined by the dynamic balance between the weight of the pairs. Readers, writers, radios, and cutting sounds into vinyl and tones made from wind reeds are also part. Hamilton has collaborated with the Henry Gallery at the University of Washington. Unfortunately Portland has no counterpart. Hamilton also opens her show at the Elizabeth Leach Gallery below 6PM-8 tonight.

At The Lumber Room lumberroom.com 419 SW 9th, above Liz Leach Map 3 Free



Place has artist talks by Wynde Dyer and Shelley Chamberlin on their works in the gallery. Both shows end today. At Place, www.placepdx.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall along with the People's art of Portland and the Woolley Gallery. 700 SW Fifth. 4PM Free

Friday, November 01, 2013

November 1 Body White Yarn Sextet

I have always enjoyed the work of Ann Hamilton. Her minimal installations often focused on the body. She uses that emotional carrier well. She has also worked in words and video.

She gives a talk this evening at PNCA, and tomorrow at the Lumber Room. Ann Hamilton at PNCA www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson Map



Philip Iosca celebrates the release of his book the White Paper with a reading. A meditation on the disconnect over humanity towards homosexuals and other sexualities from society as a whole, it was first published in 1928. Le Livre Blanc is almost universally believed to be written and illustrated by Jean Cocteau. Iosca has reillustrated and published the book with Container Corps in a limited edition. As a species, we can become caught up in trivial judgementalism. We really need to get onto saving each other and the world. At Portland's only member of the New Art Dealers Alliance www.newartdealers.org, Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 1501 SW Market Street Map 6PM-8



Tonight is First Friday full of wonder

Jaik Faulk has Radio on the Beach. At Nationale www.nationale.us 811 E Burnside Map



Spinning Yarns: Photographic Storytellers is a group show curated by Anne Leighton Massoni and Libby Rowe. At Newspace Photo www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th Map 6PM-9 Free



Steve Hansen has Monochrome Sextet. At Pushdot Studio www.pushdotstudio.com 2505 SE 11th Avenue Suite 104 6PM-8




Thursday, October 31, 2013

October 31 Bug in

Eat-a-Bug. Eat a bug.

David George Gordon is a chef who develops recipes with insect ingredients. Eat-a-Bug is his cookbook. Tonight he demonstrates his recipes for you. To eat.

The perfect Halloween event in a weird way. At Paxton Gate www.paxtongatepdx.com 4204 N Mississippi 7PM-9 Free

Saturday, October 26, 2013

October 26 Haunted Happening

The Time Arts Club is a group of PSU students creating "happenings". They are great art parties of the type going on as long as there have been artists. Specifically they are modeling the parties of Warhol, with music, video, live art making, food and drink.

Haunted Happening tonight has Live music by _wndfrm, (V)!_!(V), Mexorcist (Debut!) and Joel Stotesbery & Kali Valence. Live drawing by Isaac Weiss. Video art by Brooks Fuentes, Bugenhagen & Tim Ferrell. Costume contest, of course, judged by art professors. www.facebook.com/TimeArtsClub At Portland State University in Neuberger 293, 714 SW Harrison. All ages. 7PM-9 Free

Sunday, October 20, 2013

October 20 Deep Sun

The last Deep this year is tonight. There have been a series of master classes and workshops in support. Tonight tuneage by Freaky Outy, ComputerFAM and Mighty Moves. Performances by Isaiah Esquire, Kumari Suraj, Lady Cultura, RAW and PG Boyz.

2on2 crews are Boogie Frantick & Edge (LA), Animal & Bandicoot (SF), Main Event, Wreckonize Fam, Original Content, Daisuke & Fligh, House of Aquarius, Sharkboi Ft Cheese, RK47, Chicken & Ric, Daniel Jerome & Isiah Munoz, Don Found a Tiger, Lazy Riddle Rock, Beauty & The Beast, Blackman & Robin and Yen Boogie & Ra Boogie (Soul Trigger).

Alternates and lottery competitor hopefuls include Tigershift & Ringmaster, Impulse & Nuggs, Bible Black, L.E.D., Trigga & Soulja Hostile, Move Syndicate, Jake & Penny, Louisa Mengo, Shawn & Teddy, Toogie Barcelo, Kumari Suraj (LA / PDX), Professor Lock (Philly), Miss Prissy (LA), Sean Bankhead (ATL), Christian Owens (NYC), Kolanie Marks (SEA), Uflow, Rey Rey, Lil C, JoeTruVo, Kai, Po, Tannersaurous Rex, Matt Chun, Latya Caples, Joshua Bonifacio, Nick Chris , Dustin Tran , Hype, David Le , Henry Wu, Synikk, Derek Manyrath, Alexa Patey, Yuhki, Peter Pham, Yuta Shibuya, Jensine San, Deon James, Rosie, Bboy Apollo, Tiny Snubb, Young Liquid, Gumby, Crash, Jesus Rodales, Sammie, Jazzy, Marty Party, Dubstikz, Marika, Ben Vo, Fly Lice, Horizun, Roc, Clix, Superman Shadow, Hi Tek, Ryan Dewrk Bakker, Angel Tejero and Mango. So pos PDX not gangstering down crew names. Evolution.

There will be a special set of guests, East, West and down under performing individualistic styles including Miss Prissy, Professor Lock, Kumari Suraj, Toogie Barcelo, Christian Owens, Sean Bankhead, Kolanie Marks, and Parris Goebel.

As always, crowd judged!

Many sponsors including a certain drink and Portland's own Sol Republic headphones. Deep World Tour PDX www.deepworldtour.com finals at the Bossanova Ballroom 722 E Burnside all ages, adult beverages available for 21+. Doors 4PM $16 in costume, $20

Saturday, October 19, 2013

October 19 Raga Place

Place opens new shows this evening. Place is actually three: the Black Gallery, the White Gallery and a video screening room.

In the Black Gallery is Wynde Dyer with Things That Aren't Safe Are. It is a process for unwinding paralyzing childhood anxieties around everyday household objects by exposing herself to them while reassociating them with pleasant memories.

In the White Gallery is Dark Element by Emily Nachison inspired by 15th-17th century books from Yale's rare book collection on alchemy. And Retritus by Karah Bruce-Larkin based on her ceramics practice.

The Screening Room has video by Nicolas Reibel.

Shelley Chamberlin has An Exploration of Brokenness and Repair. You are encouraged to bring something to break that is meaningful to you, or something to be repaired.

At Place, www.placepdx.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall along with the People's art of Portland and the Woolley Gallery. 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, sometimes the bridge on the 3rd floor is open too. 700 SW Fifth. 5PM-9 Free

At the same location, the Mark Woolley Gallery and People's Art of Portland will have openings. Free



Michael Stirling sings ragas tonight. The performance is a celebration of Michael Stirling and his daughter Lucy Stirling traveling to India to perform at Shri Krishna Janmastham Bhoomi. And on an auspicious evening surrounding the full moon. Stirling will be accompanied by David Jacob, tabla, and Ted Bryan and Kat Macmillan on tambura. At Yoga Shala yogashalapdx.com 3808 N. Williams 8PM $10-20

Friday, October 18, 2013

October 18 Knock Nacht

Glen Baldridge presents an installation including prints on the wall tonight. From the description it could go either way. See it yourself and decide. At Portland's only member of the New Art Dealers Alliance www.newartdealers.org, Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 1501 SW Market Street Map 6PM-8

Saturday, October 12, 2013

October 12 The Mysterious Mr O

The Portland Museum of Modern Art never fails to delight. They have reached back in the Portland archive to revive the art of Mr Otis. The narrative is beautifully absurd.

Mr Otis was so reclusive that he was never seen in public. But his paintings were shown around Portland, in New York, and he was collected nationally. The flat colorful outsider figurative work was often a sly comment on the big changes in the West on the shoulder of its resource extraction phase. Or comments on the art world itself. Mr Otis painted in the 1950s to early 1960's.

Stewart H. Holbrook represented the artist, arranged shows, penned a book on Mr Otis and appeared at openings on behalf of the reclusive artist. Holbrook is author of over 40 books on Northwest history. He worked as a logger then went on to write for 36 years at the Oregonian newspaper in its salad days, striking a populist chord.

Holbrook also founded the James G. Blaine Society. Its aim was to discourage people from moving to Oregon. It had no leader, no structure and no address. But it persisted and its meme was picked up in the 1970's and 1980's including by a famous governor who encouraged Californians to "visit, but not stay".

The James G. Blaine Society has been an obvious failure, because many Oregon home prices and rents are "too damn high". But it was also a success, laying the psychic groundwork for the Suicide Club and the Cacophony Society, inspirations to writer Palahniuk.

Mr Holbrook passed in 1964. And with that passing did Mr Otis. Mr Otis' archive is held by the University of Washington, where they may be viewed. UW has loaned some of the works to the PMOMA where they are on exhibit, opening tonight. Cellist Lori Goldston accompanies the opening.

At the Portland Museum of Modern Art inside Mississippi Records www.portlandmuseumofmodernart.com 5202 N Albina Map 8PM-10 Free

Friday, October 11, 2013

October 11 Design of Aliens By Humans

Design is inexpensive, including good design. But it can create cascades in high multiples of the original investment.

That is the thesis of Jason Schupbach, National Endowment for the Arts Director of Design. And that can be and arguably is the thesis of Portland.

He was going to speak on the topic as part of City Club and Design Week. But he was grounded by the Tea Party. So he was replaced by Chris Riley.

Reservations by Wednesday by a complicated ruleset on the City Club rulesite http://pdxcityclub.org/content/friday-forums. At the Governor Hotel, 614 SW 11th 11:50AM $5-275

Or if you prefer later where he is interviewed by Randy Gragg bright lights style. But I'm not sure this is still on. At 415 SW 10th. 5ishPM Free



Tonight for design week is a big party at IPRC. It's a book fair! At the Independent Publishing Resource Center www.iprc.org 1101 SE Division, Suite 2 4PM-9 Free



Case of Bass makes suitcase speakers, literally. Tonight see what Portland designers have done with the concept. Designers buimding are John Jay – WK Garage, Eric Trine – Furniture designer, Mike Hyp – Nike designer, Bradley Streeper – Artist, Adam Garcia – The Pressure, Tanner Goods - Taylor Ahlmark and Alex Nguyen Ed Challed – Second Nature Design, MHAK and Hellion Collaboration, Grove – Ken Tomita and Joe Curtis Pachunka – Wieden & Kennedy, Justin Morris and Emma Barnett – Wieden & Kennedy, Matthew Bietz – Quarter Twenty, Charlie Frye – Metal Craft, Cera Crockett – Leatherman, Case of Bass – Jay Yovu, Chris Bleiler – Fix Studios, Todd Isaacs and Ben Ediger – Spacecraft PDX, finally John Ceniceros and David Fredrickson – Figure Plant. All cases will be auctioned tonight to benefit cancer and autism programs. At Hellion Gallery www.helliongallery.com through the lobby of the arched brick entry, up the stairs and to the back. Very upper floor Japan-style. 19 NW 5th Suite 208. Map 6PM-10 Free



The ESC Collective are the new kids with a fascination with geodesic domes. In their dome tonight will be custom motorcycles, furniture and more. Also Saturday. See the Design Week Portland website for the details. esccollective.com 3360 SE 21st 7PM-10 Free



Stanislaw Lem wrote a little book, Solaris, in 1961. It's an exploration on the meeting of humans and non. In the book, astronaut explorers drawn to an alien world are confronted with their own memories and myths by alien intelligence. It was filmed by Tartovsky in 1972. Later remade by Soderbergh in 2002. Pre it draws heavily from Shakespeare's Tempest written in 1610 and post it inspired Lost 2004-10. This is Tartovsky. 167 minutes. Film at the PSU Fifth Avenue Cinema. www.5thavenuecinema.org 510 SW Hall 6:30, 9:30PM Friday & Saturday 3 Sunday Free PSU community, $3 other students $4 everybody

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

October 9-December 7 Art Not All It Seems

It took a minute to get it but I have enjoyed the work of Josiah McElheny after seeing it in a Seattle show. He makes sculptures with stories that are entirely fabricated. There is a huge emphasis on narrative in branding everything, so it is working for and against that idea. You get a chance to see Josiah McElheny's work Thursdays through Saturdays for the next two months free. Organized by www.zenazezza.org at The Lumber Room lumberroom.com 419 SW 9th, above Liz Leach Map Thursday-Saturday 1PM-6

Tuesday, October 08, 2013

October 8 Curious YouTube

Two events tonight we like are part of Design Week Portland.


Curiosity Club is having a greatest hits evening with past speakers.

Hand-Eye Supply Curiosity Club presents How Did You Get There? - An Exploration of Process, Praxis and Pitfalls.

Chris Lyons and Brett Binford from Mudshark Studios, small scale craft manufacturer; Andi Kovel of Esque Studio, mold formed blown glass; Blake van Roekel of Good Keuken, chef and advocate for local ingredients; Mike Merrill as KmikeyM.com, a publically traded person and Chris Hoffman founder of Ryno Motors, maker of an electric one wheel motorcycle speak. 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



Meanwhile social practice project Getting To Know You(Tube) is back with presenters Amber Case, cyborg anthropologist and entrepreneur; Adam Garcia, creative director and Cabel Sasser, cofounder of Panic. At Getting to Know You(Tube) www.gettingtoknowyoutube.com at the Hollywood Theater www.hollywoodtheatre.org 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard 7PM $5

Sunday, October 06, 2013

October 7 Never Snap2Guides

We have beautiful machines that are limited in their creativity. So it is our responsibility each to compensate by using those machines creatively.

That is the message of typographer and designer David Carson.

His philosophy was realized as he cofounded Raygun Magazine publishing between 1992 and 2000. You could argue it was inspired by punk i-D Magazine, operating from 1980 to 2012 when it was acquired by Vice.

Carson utilized eroded fonts and innovative vertical and horizontal spacing, even kerning on curves. Since he has worked in design for monoliths needing a refresh.

He speaks tonight as part of Design Week Portland www.designweekportland.com. There are plenty of events on that website that are cool. Unfortunately this event is fully subscribed.

David Carson at Design Week Portland presented by W+K. AV by E*Rock. At W+K www.wk.com 224 NW 13th Map 6:30PM $5 advance, $10 door

Friday, October 04, 2013

October 5 Club Paint

Club Paint, Erin Allen, Keith Boadwee and Isaac Gray, present Nobody Loves You When You are Old and Gay. It takes square aim at painting imitating advertising's obsession with youth, beauty and sex. Knowing Rock this will be good in a provocative way. At Rocksbox Fine Art www.rocksboxfineart.com 6540 N Interstate Map 8PM-11 Free

October 4 Eastside Art Openings

Alex Felton opens the last show ever at Appendix.

For five years Appendix with Little Field has shown local, national and international artists in a garage on an unmarked alley. The work has always been of stellar quality and provocative in a good way. To close, Appendix has produced a book surveying the work at the gallery.

Appendix Project Space www.appendixspace.com On the alley between 26th and 27th, South of Alberta. Map 7-10ish Free



Curator of music for Valentines in its fertile period and often of its art, Jen Olesen, guests at curating Sword+Fern. And she is winner of the copyrighting award of the week. "Recently, I asked four of my favorite ceramicists to lend me a vase they've made. I liked the idea of making a small painting for each vase based on whatever feeling it gave off to me and thought it might be an interesting and relaxed way to collaborate across two different creative mediums. It also proved to be fun way to unify the work of these artists while emphasizing their voices. These works will be arranged together on a table at Sword + Fern for the month of October as a part of their guest curation series, DISCOVERe'verer. Things I've been thinking about in conjunction with this project: personification of objects; paintings as symbols for flowers; vases as symbols for rooms; flowers symbolizing dreams and other wordless experiences; the definition of the word 'bouquet"; a reconsideration of the definition of "still life"...

I like the idea that each of us has a sort of room, a place we occupy in our mind when we're channeling and creating something. It's a place we sometimes forget how to get to and a place where only we can go. But maybe once, very rarely, someone else gets the invitation. With that in mind, please considering joining me this Friday.

At Sword+Fern 811 E Burnside 6PM-9ish



Octopus Girl Longs for the Ocean is a performance by Lucas Swick and Wendi Anderson, Pen & Process, captured in photographs. Redux always does a great job on copyrighting, and this month is no exception.

"Octopus Girl has been out on another heady nighttime land-jaunt, leaving her tail well-hidden just below the surface of the sea. However, having stayed out past dawn frolicking with the fairies, she returns to the shore only to realize the moondrops have gone to her head and she cannot remember where she hid her tail. She begins to search the shoreline, hoping to find her tail before she’s spotted by any humans, and longing to lay her weary head down to rest.

Lucas Swick has been drawn to the misty ocean’s edge this morning in search of the perfectly moody photo to complete his portfolio. Never did he imagine that he’d find the otherworldly sight that greets him as comes round a bend in the rocky coastline. Following Octopus Girl at a discrete distance, he captures her image as she conducts her lonely search. His luck runs out when he steps on a dry piece of driftwood – SNAP – and has to duck behind a rock to ensure he is not seen. When he looks again, she is gone.

Lucas has returned to the sea many times looking for Octopus Girl but to no avail."

And a photo here.

Also showing Mike Wellins, cofounder of the Freakybuttrue Peculiarium Gallery and Museum, who has surealisticaly styled portraits with a feel of early 1900's studios.

At Redux www.reduxpdx.com 811 E Burnside 6PM-9:30



Black and White: Mastering the Art of Photography is a group show curated by Chris Bennett of Newspace. At Black Box Gallery www.blackboxgallery.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 212 upstairs 5PM-8:30 Free



Newspace has their annual member show. Good work at good prices. You can haz. At Newspace Photo www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th Map 6PM-9 Free



Home:Bass has trademark murals, urban outsider-style paintings and anime influenced work, with DJ's to accompany it all. At Home:Bass www.homebasspdx.com 123 NE 6th 6PM-10 Free



Ehren Tool, Daniel Donovan, Thomas Orr and Jesse Albrecht present Art Out of War. It's work by veterans. Of war. Iraq I and II. At Eutectic Gallery www.eutecticgallery.com 1930 NE Oregon 6PM-9



Hearts Of Darkness is a group show by Johannes De Young, Jordan Massengale, Rachel Phillips, Michael Endo and Malia Jensen. I have to say that the entire premise and narrative of this show by the curator is distasteful to me on every level. But you can judge the art on its merits. At Gallery Homeland www.galleryhomeland.org in the Ford Building www.fordbuildingpdx.com 2505 SE 11th x Division. Enter through the cafe on the corner if the main doors on 11th are locked. 6PM-9 Free



Eugene Von Bruenchenhein 1910-1983 shows work in a variety of mediums along with collages by Felipe Jesus Consalvos and sculpture by Paul Lee. I have to say, why weren't the galleries interested when the artist was alive? At Adams and Ollman Gallery www.adamsandollman.com 811 E Burnside #213 6PM-9 Free

Thursday, October 03, 2013

October 3 Westside Art Openings

After a Summer of sometimes prosaic shows, the galleries have returned to kill. (In a good way)



Brenna Murphy vibrates ecosystems tonight. She is a prime mover of the Oregon Painting Society and MSHR. This show is solely her her.

Murphy admixes ecomysticism, digital patterning, extrusion, game engine aesthetics and shading with full sound-mind-body experience. This particular installation is a series of seemingly Mayan or Chinese patterns that have been extruded as wood, plastic or glass cut shapes. Those are combined into sled-like assemblages in black, white clear and rainbow polychrome. They vary in scale from full to small toy. Some find a home on sand surfaces, an element found in earlier shows.

When we say recommended we mean it. Strongly recommended. In November the show will change into an MSHR collaboration. At UpFor Gallery www.upforgallery.com 929 NW Flanders 6PM-9 Free



Other Maps Are Such Shapes is a star show by Littman+White. They collect Anna Gray + Ryan Wilson Paulsen, Matt Hilger, Perry Doane, Sean Schumacher and Stephanie Simek in the show. The common element is measurement on experience lensed through art. Curated by Leif Anderson who has done an excellent series at the gallery over the last year. At the Littman Gallery, PSU Smith Hall, Room 250, 1825 SW Broadway. Early 5PM-8 5-8pm



It is not often an artist is afforded an opportunity to make an installation in a commercial gallery in Portland. But this month Dinh Q. Lê has. Fixing the Impermanent is a meditation on Lê's longtime sampling work and the chemical photography paper which comprised it. That paper is now passing. There is a much thicker description on the gallery website. Recommended. At Elizabeth Leach Gallery www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th Map 6PM-9



Chuck Close. Usually he shows in museums. So its a tribute to Portland's Blue Sky that his work is here. Close is well known for experimental portraits. Tonight he shows a new body of work: photographic portraits printed in a digital textile loom. Recommended. Also showing is Bien de Familia by José D’Amico. It's abandoned places-themed work. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9



Tom Cramer is a PNCA graduate working for some time carving wood. He is also well known for his graphic murals and even has painted his trademark patterns on cars. Tonight he is back with even more stunning low relief carved wood panels. You can see the photos on the gallery website, but better yet, see them in person. At Laura Russo Gallery www.laurarusso.com 805 NW 21st 5PM-8



Jeff Koons is a financier who decided to become an artist. Jim Riswold is an ad man who decided to become an artist. He still maintains his ad activities, and his work mixes ad messaging theory with art messaging theory.

The ad element is hard hitting and straight forward. The art element is using his life experience as material. The visual element ties those. Riswold's day job, when he is wondering if he will live, is translating brands to words. In his show, Art for Oncologists, Riswold taps experience of 14 years of cancers, and their treatments by branded drugs. Part of the show are heart-shaped units impressed with those chemotherapy brand names. Words.

So an interesting question for readers. How does narrative matter in the art career, how much is made now, and how much is made after the artist passes. Where does the artist exist in the range of say Basquiat, and say Koons or Burroughs? How does that relate to the economic eras of their career arc and how does that relate to the economic experience of the viewer?

At Augen Gallery www.augengallery.com 716 NW Davis early close 8



PNCA is an art school. So if you are thinking on enrolling you would want to audition faculty. Tonight is a show of faculty. You can see in the atrium. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson Map



JShea and Stephanie Buer show Inhabitants, sculptures and photographs. At Hellion Gallery www.helliongallery.com through the lobby of the arched brick entry, up the stairs and to the back. Very upper floor Japan-style. 19 NW 5th Suite 208. Map 7PM-10 Free



Everett Lofts are recommended as always. It's easier for you to see them all than for me to write suggestions. Some close as early as 9PM. At the Everett Lofts 625 NW Everett. Bounded by NW Everett, Broadway, Flanders and 6th Map closing ranges from 9PM-10:30ish

Monday, September 30, 2013

October 3 Endangered

Occasionally congress kicks out a beautiful law. Whether they will ever again do so is a matter of debate.

What is a beautiful law? It is simple. It changes the course of history. It's not a Christmas tree.

The the Civil Rights Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Another is the Endangered Species Act created by president Richard Nixon in 1973. It was upheld by the Supreme Court in TVA v Hill. The majority opinion was written by conservative chief justice Warren Burger.

"As we homogenize the habitats in which these plants and animals evolved, and as we increase the pressure for products that they are in a position to supply (usually unwillingly) we threaten their - and our own - genetic heritage.

The value of this genetic heritage is, quite literally, incalculable...

From the most narrow possible point of view, it is in the best interests of mankind to minimize the losses of genetic variations. The reason is simple: they are potential resources. They are keys to puzzles which we cannot solve, and may provide answers to questions which we have not yet learned to ask."

Justice Berger closes poetically: "The lines ascribed to Sir Thomas More by [playwright] Robert Bolt are not without relevance here:

'The law, Roper, the law. I know what's legal, not what's right. And I'll stick to what's legal.... I'm not God. The currents and eddies of right and wrong, which you find such plain-sailing, I can't navigate, I'm no voyager. But in the thickets of the law, oh there I'm a forester.... What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil? ... And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you - where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? ... This country's planted thick with laws from coast to coast - Man's laws, not God's - and if you cut them down ... d'you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow them? ... Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake.'"

That case was over a fish, the snail darter. Tonight Zygmunt Plater, who has focused his career on the Endangered Species Act and environmental law, speaks. In "The Curious Case of the Endangered Snail Darter", he relates the experience of successfully arguing the case before the Court.

Politics in a post-Luntz-Rove world are different. The Court is also qualitatively different. Thinkers like Lessig are hopeful.

But we are looking at significant extinctions in future years by climate change. Plater offers an optimistic story of the case in the 1970's. We hope he will contextualize that story to today, and to tomorrow, befitting beautiful law.

Endangered species at Reed College Vollum Lecture Hall, www.reed.edu 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd Map 7PM Free

Sunday, September 29, 2013

October 2 Exercise for Ears

Bad Blood, If Not For Kidnap, Nows Ours, Sister Spit, Tin House, YesYes Books. Each is a very cool publisher or literary presenter.

Tonight they present 52 readers of prose and poetry over 3 hours at 6 venues within walking distance.

Thorne Lounge, Common Grounds Coffee, Angelo's, Bar of the Gods, Sewick's Lounge and East Portland Eagle Lodge are hosts.

You can find out more about LitHop PDX including each venue scheduke at www.lithoppdx.com. Upper Hawthorne. 7PM-10, DJ after. Free

Saturday, September 28, 2013

September 28 Love Home

Architecture collects itself by virtue of its mass. No one is going to move the pyramids into a museum.

But occasionally a great effort is made, and for that we are thankful. An example is Little living room at the Met. It's a pleasure to be in if it's empty. The horizontal lines are very restful.

And sometimes heroic efforts are undertaken to move historic small buildings from one place to another like Baba Yaga's hut. Marylhurst University has done that with a Lake Oswego residence designed by Pietro Belluschi. It opens today.

Italian-born Portlander Belluschi made a mark on Portland with the Portland Art Museum, the Commonwealth Building and more. He was then selected as dean of the MIT school of architecture where he influenced a generation of architects.

Firmly in the international style of office buildings, Belluschi's residences established a Northwest style extending to today, building here of regional natural materials and with strong horizontal lines.

See an example for yourself today as the Belluschi building opens, and visit ongoing when the small 900sf home will be surely less crowded. At the Marylhurst University www.marylhurst.edu/theartgym/ Map Today 11PM-4, Sunday Noon-3 Free



Pure love. No one can argue with that. Agape BC. And Pure Love is an art show with reception tonight. Glasgow artist Sue Tompkins, truffled by Chris Johanson, shows. Bio is redic. So recommended, and continues PMOMA's curatorial arc. At the Portland Museum of Modern Art inside Mississippi Records www.portlandmuseumofmodernart.com 5202 N Albina Map 7PM Free

Sunday, September 22, 2013

September 24 Oil and Honey

I was fortunate to encounter McKibben through local Ilahee. McKibben is one of those smart persons who sense important societal changes far in advance of others, and writes about them. He did so for the New Yorker. He does so for Middlebury College.

He is on to climate change in a serious way now. He's a Vermonter. Vermonters, Mainers and Oregonians are precise in their language and conservative in their opinions. So you couldn't find a better perspective to speak about climate change global warming.

And yes, funded media will try to take him down.

You can judge for yourself. And tonight you can hear for yourself. It's not free, but McKibben's talks are free to view all over the interwebs. And if you are a bookpers, McKibben has written a new one, Oil and Honey, adding to his excellent lit rep.

The talk tonight is a book tour talk. Admission at the upper price includes a copy. Bill McKibben speaking on his book Oil and Honey: The Education of an Unlikely Activist www.portland5.com/newmark-theatre/events/bill-mckibben at Newmark Theater 1111 SW Broadway 7:30PM $20-36+service charges

Saturday, September 21, 2013

September 21 Deep Indian Place

Seasonal monthly Deep is tonight. It's fierce PDXvSEA in a good way. Fun! Starts 4. Part of deepworldtour.com. Beer and wine for those 21+ otherwise all ages. At Trio Club 909 E Burnside. Doors 4PM $8 with res on the FB, $12



Kalakendra opens its season tonight with Indrajit Banerjee, sitar; Snehashish Mozumder, mandolin and Subrata Bhattacharya, tabla. If you are interested in, or curious about, Indian music these are Portland's long time event presenters. Presented by Kalakendra www.kalakendra.org. At the First Baptist Church 909 SW 11th. 7:30PM $25



Things That Aren't Safe Are is a new work by Wynde Dyer meditating on the experience of aversion therapy to people, places and things. We all have aversion reactions and they often tendril deep into us. Object and Meaning: An Exploration of Brokenness and Repair by Shelley Chamberlin is an installation performance. You may bring things to break, or that need repair. Material Concerns is a work by Jonathan Gann & Daniel Long. The description of what they are up to is lost in the artspeak press release. Finally Nicolas Reibel has video work in the screening room. At Place, www.placepdx.com a gallery on the 3rd floor of the Pioneer Place Mall along with the People's art of Portland and the Woolley Gallery. 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, sometimes the bridge on the 3rd floor is open too. 700 SW Fifth. 5PM-9 Free

At the same location, the Mark Woolley Gallery and People's Art of Portland will likely be eventing. Free


Friday, September 20, 2013

September 20 Dark Light Game Synth

We see with our eyes without seeing all. Our eyes see from what we call violet to what we call red. Beyond that is a large range of infrared and a range of ultraviolet. Some other beasts see those "colors". And we can build cameras from exotic materials on the periodic table to see those "colors".

It is sad, but it is common for some of the most fascinating technology is developed for the military. If you want to see the future pipeline, look up Arpa. And while Portland's technology development is less dominated by the war-making machinery industry than elsewhere, we have one of the major infrared camera makers in the world here. These cameras "see" heat, literally in the "dark". They do have more positive applications in medicine and in finding thermal leaks in buildings. www.youtube.com/watch?v=31O43iZaUY0. Tonight they are dedicated to art.

It is a reunion project by friends noted for their erotic art film, The Operation. Jacob Pander and Marne Lucas present Incident Energy tonight, a multichannel video contrasting the heat signatures of bodies and our industrial world. Jim McGinn, Portland modern dancer, and collaborator in the footage, will perform live for the opening at 8.

Incident Energy opening at Disjecta, in the shadow of Paul Bunyan www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate Map 6PM-9 Free


Gaming is a fascinating world. Unfortunately I don't have the time or patience to enter. But there is innovation in the space, and some of it is interesting. In particular we need more engaging women and girls. Eventually game technology will become ubiquitous as the gateway, the experience interface, to simulation. Early work was done by a friend at Atari Labs and PARC. Since, we have environments like OpenSim, a build your own world toolkit.

From time to time a game developer will open a new twisty path in game design. That's the case with Jonathan Blow @Jonathan_Blow, who developed Braid as a counterpoint to mainstream gameplay. He is developing a new game The Witness. He is continuously active in game criticism, experimental gaming workshops and has founded a game development venture fund.

This morning he speaks in Portland. The event is fully subscribed. Tickets are no longer available for his talk, but the video will soon be available on the Creative Mornings website. Sponsored by Portland Creative Mornings @Portland_CM at the Hollywood Theater www.hollywoodtheatre.org 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard Doors 8:30AM, talk 9. Free



CV Modulator is a class of functions in electronic music synthesis. The basic idea is to use one musical signal to control another. With those elements, you can build a more complex sound. Tonight is CVModulation experiment and performance night in Portland. In this case, people will be doing it with analog hardware modules, often in the Eurorack format. Tonight will be a demo and give-away by 4ms Company and a live performance Marcus Fischer & Jatun accompanied by video synths. If you are interested in electronic music, or just curious, this is a gentle introduction. At Control Voltage www.controlvoltage.net 3742 NE Mississippi 7PM Free

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

September 19 Spark Meow Pome Quants

Music and pome go together. Tonight it's Janaka Stucky and Endi Bogue Hartigan who operate as If Not For Kidnap primarily in private homes. They guest poets and musicians performing together. Tonight they mix in musician Dashenka. Stellar lineup, just sayin'. At Buy Olympia's Land Gallery www.landpdx.com 3925 N Mississippi 7:30 Free



I don't know any who would consider the films of Eisenstein or the Lumières as cult. But for each of us, with our visual culture learnings, there are sure to be video-films that read as ironic. Here is one for your consideration: Barbarella, filmed in 1968. At the time, actress Jane Fonda, who maintained a significant acting career for about 10 years previous, was entwined with romper director Rodger Vadim. The film is a science fiction fantasy with pre-digital special effects staring Fonda traveling the universe in her fur lined spacecraft. Seriously! Film at 4122 NE Sandy hollywoodtheatre.org/barbarella. 7:30PM $8, $5 Barbarella-themed costume



Art Spark is an artist and art producer networking event. This month Ballet Papalotl, Grand Detour Center for Experimental Media and the International Day of Dance give very short talks on what they are up to. The rest of the time is for talk and meeting. Art Spark! www.portlandartspark.com at Bar Bar 3939 N Mississippi 5PM-7 Free



Portland OR US Now operates primarily in the qualitative world, not the quantitative. So art, aesthetics, ideas and creativity are our focus. But an interest is the quantified self movement, articulated at MIT, but a worldwide experiment, including in Portland. Some of the people interested meet occasionally. Sometimes they have speakers reporting on their experiences. That would be tonight. You can see the list at www.meetup.com/PDX-Quantified-Self/events/136825772/. Portland Quantified Self at Puppet Labs 926 NW 13th Ave #210. 6PM-9 Free

September 18 Choose Your Own Photo Adventure Destination

Photographer Ansel Adams is the modern photographer that distilled Western Transcendentalist landscape photography of the 1870's and 80's. He was famous for his co-development and perfection of the Zone system. The principles are still relevant though increasingly not understood as photographers trust the brain of the in-camera digital image processor.

Someone who does understand the process, and the man, is Alan Ross. Ross was Adams' assistant. He speaks tonight of that experience and his own discoveries in photography.

At the Portland Art Museum Whitsell Auditorium 1219 SW Park 6:30PM Free PAM and Newspace members, $5 students/seniors, $10



Susan de Witt is a local photographer fascinated by photographing ghosts. Her work includes the vicissitudes of chemical photography. Here is what the photographer copywrites: "My first actual encounter with ghosts was while I was in France, staying in an old convent in Cahors. It was lunchtime and I was heading across the vestibule from the dining area into the laundry, when I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight of 5 monks, similarly dressed in brown cowled robes, heads down, faces hidden, sweeping the floor in unison. I have absolutely no doubt that they were there - I was not afraid - and during my stay there over the next two weeks, I had other visitations from an old woman, who I later learned had died there. She simply terrified me.
Heavy sleep often brings me these surreal encounters, fading in and out of clarity - a mirage of sorts. So real are these visions that I can mistake their questionable authenticity for that of certainty. My mind allows me to see the possibilities and partake in the moment. I recall fragments of my dreams here, fleeting moments that have stayed with me.

Serendipity plays a part when I print with with chemicals. Often unrepeatable results appear before me on the paper, results that excite me in their unpredictability. I appreciate the pen-and-ink-drawing quality that lith provides me; reality disappears from the page, bringing forth an illusion for the viewer, a misrepresentation of accuracy. All of my composites are done in the darkroom, where absurdity takes precedence over actuality."

A free brown bag lunch talk organized by the Portland Art Museum Photography Council. At Portland Art Museum, Masonic Temple Building, Miller Gallery. 1219 SW Park Noon Free



We love DIY, as you have noticed. DIY as a destination is back as a participatory craft event tonight. There will be a live interview of Rebecca Lerner, author of Dandelion Hunter. Music by DJ Daddy Issues. A trivia contest. But best, it's an opportunity to bring your crafts and craft together with cool friendly people. Organized by, hosted by and generally made awesome by Julie Sabatier, creator of www.destinationdiy.org at adxportland.com 417 SE 11th x Stark Map 7PM-9 $3-5 comestibles included




Monday, September 16, 2013

September 16 Space Martini

This is primarily a visual arts and sometime performing arts blog. But we have many many interests. So sometimes we will throw something interesting in here. This is that.

There are many final frontiers and space is one. Although the fundamental relationship between gravity and the energy to overcome it is unchanged, fundage is flowing from previously dedicated government sources and now venture capital into space.

That's the theme of tonight's panel: Space: Are We There Yet? presented in Seattle by the MIT Enterprise Forum. Douglas King from the Museum of Flight moderates a panel comprising Will Pomerantz, Vice President for Special Projects at Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic; Chris Lewicki, President & Chief Engineer, Planetary Resources; and Joe Landon, Managing Director, Space Angels Network. These individuals want to fly you into space, mine asteroids and finance it all. All very frothy.

One forecast proposes eleven thousand individuals will pay for spaceflights in the next ten years. Planetary Resources has put together a very interesting team to go where no miner has gone before.

Commercial space talk by www.mitwa.org/events/enterprise-forum-program/space-are-we-there-yet at the Museum of Flight 9404 East Marginal Way S, Seattle 5:30PM-8:15 $60



Music, so many styles. Portland musicians Pink Martini specialize in pop music standards from some time back, when it was economically feasible to hire a large group of musicians to play or even record live. The started playing in retirement homes, and for progressive benefits. Over the years they have been very generous and compassionate in finding very talented vocalists time has forgotten and reviving their careers. Tonight they perform an absolutely free concert with a string section and some outstanding guest vocalists, including a Japanese businessman's karaoke choir, Meow Meow, and the great grandchildren Von Trapp Family. Recommended. The Pink Martini at Portland Pioneer Square 6PM Free

Saturday, September 14, 2013

September 12-22 Time Based Art

The annual festival of performance also has visual arts. I always recommend their evening programs at the works, it is a great opportunity to chat with creative people. You can find all the details on the PICA website and stop by their evening art and performance venue 2170 NW Raleigh.

Friday, September 06, 2013

September 6 Eastside Art Openings

Photographer Delaney Allen presents A personal Nature. Allen is a 2010 minted PNCA MFA with a strong body of landscape, alternative portraits and still lifes. The work hews to minimal surrealism. An artist that is capable of showing beyond Portland and who is represented by Nationale. At Nationale www.nationale.us 811 E Burnside Map Free



Camera Work:Contemporary Portraiture opens at tonight. At Black Box Gallery www.blackboxgallery.com 811 E Burnside, Suite 212 upstairs 5PM-8:30 Free



Chris Johanson, Acharya Vyakul and Chris Corales show together in intimate space tonight. At Adams and Ollman Gallery www.adamsandollman.com 811 E Burnside #213 6PM-9



Jessie Sugarman has video work California City opening tonight. California City is a huge area planned by land speculators anticipating it to be on the route of the California aqueduct. The aqueduct took another route, leaving much of California City a ghost suburb. Recommended, as always. At Portland's only member of the New Art Dealers Alliance www.newartdealers.org, Fourteen30 Gallery www.fourteen30.com 1501 SW Market Street Map 11AM-6PM Weekends, 6PM-9 tonight



Theodore Blackshear Bowen will be doing live painting tonight. At Manchus Clothing www.machusonline.com 542 E Burnside 7PM-10 Free



Steel + Ink is a show of Portland axes which have been customized by five Portland tattoo artists. Trust repurposed used axes and asked five Portland tattoo artists to adorn their heads with weldbead, etching, grinding and to modify the handles. Mark Mirocha and Ian Orion show photographs, Julie Everhart has prints. Eatcho has made a mural. At Union/Pine www.unionpine.com 525 SE Pine 7Pm-late Free



Pacific Midwest is a show by Milwaukee photographers who go by Milwaukee, - "Milwaukee Comma". At Newspace Photo www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th Map 6PM-9 Free



Remake: the world in paper are miniature sculptures of everyday objects by Tae Won Yu. Poses, Tae's band also performs. At Buy Olympia's Land Gallery www.landpdx.com 3925 N Mississippi 6PM-8



ADX has photographer Tim Roth with Vertex. At adxportland.com 417 SE 11th x Stark Map

Thursday, September 05, 2013

September 5 Westside Art Openings


RECESS continues its Emerging Tactics series at the Littman and White Galleries at Portland State University. At the end of the day, at least we have each other opens tonight. The artists, Cassie Thornton, Ariana Jacob and the Lower Mainland Painting Co., will evolve the work over the month, social practice styley. At Littman and White Galleries, PSU Smith Hall, 2nd Floor, 1828 SW Broadway. 5PM-9 Free



D E May presents Memory of Line: Grids, Templates and Miniatures. May is strongly representational of the early outsider sculpture presented by the Jamison Thomas gallery from which PDX branched. It's quiet and minimal. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders Map early close 8PM Free



The other child of the Jamison gallery is the Froelick Gallery which has Briar Roses by master illustrator and printmaker, Sarah Horowitz from Portland and Alfred Harris from Seattle with Hope and Glory. The former are finely executed botanical illustrations, the latter abstract, maybe map-like painting-collages. The artists speak in the gallery September 14 at 11. At Froelick Gallery www.froelickgallery.com 714 NW Davis early close 6PM-8 Feee



Alejandra Laviada from Mexico City has two bodies of work, Broken and Photo Sculptures. None of the Above are a series of portraits by Gregg Segal. At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org map 122 NW 8th 6PM-9 Free



PNCA is in session and tonight shockingly lists its shows not just the show at the finely curated Feldman. The Feldman has Feelings and How to Destroy Them by A.L. Steiner. There is a sure to be sprawling faculty biennial. Faculty member Teresa Christiansen, recent NYC transplant, presents photographs Portland Porches. Crowdsourcing Revenge (justified by comments) is fiber sculpture by mid-year MFA student Lauren Seiffert. The Closest Exit May Be The One Behind You is another mid-year MFA activity by Mario Gallucci in the Manuel Izquierdo. Finally in the secret lodge-gallery is a show Ginger Group by secret artists. Yes there is a link on the announcement leading to the secret PNCA website homeroom. No indication if there is a secret opening for the secret show. PNCA, you are improving your announcements, but there is room for improvement. The Lodge Gallery, the MFA show space is at 1532 SW Morrison and open normal business hours. At PNCA www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson Map 6PM-10 Free




Mhak, Masahiro Akutagawa from Tokyo, presents Interdeco, paintings and functional objects using the same patterns. At Hellion Gallery www.helliongallery.com through the lobby of the arched brick entry, up the stairs and to the back. Very upper floor Japan-style. 19 NW 5th Suite 208. Map 7PM-10 Free



Hair Show by Amyisla Mccombie, Grim Wilkins, Emma Leonard, David Bray, Amanda Mocci, Jenny Liz Rome, Autumn Rose Northcraft, Jessica McCourt, Laith McGregor, Andi Soto and Eveline Trauadjaja opens tonight. We all have it, and some are obsessed with it, so seemingly prosaic, it's a perfect vehicle for art. At Compound Gallery www.compoundgallery.com 107 NW 5th 6PM-10 Free



Everett Lofts are recommended as always. It's easier for you to see them all than for me to write suggestions. Some close as early as 9PM. At the Everett Lofts 625 NW Everett. Bounded by NW Everett, Broadway, Flanders and 6th Map Free



Way up on NW 21st is one of Portland's classic galleries, the Laura Russo Gallery, heir to the original Portland contemporary gallery, Arlene Schnitzer's Fountain. This month they have Portland painter Eric Stotik, known for mythic paintings, sometimes surreal, riddles enigma wrapped. Anne Siems from Seattle has ceremony, paintings often in wax medium of parents and children. At Laura Russo Gallery www.laurarusso.com 805 NW 21st early close 5PM-8 Free