Performance Art tonight and Industrious Industrial Designers

Performance Artist Samin Son

 We met performance artist Samin Son last night.  Although he lives in New Zealand, his performance art is inspired by his time spent in the South Korean army.  He will be performing at Seedco tonight. 

______________________________________________________

Industrial Designers

Last night, we visited Spooner Hall where KU's industrial design students displayed final projects. Industrial designers create or improve functional products or systems. The approach is part science and part art. We thought these designers were industrious indeed! Here are some of our favorite designers and their products: 

\

Sophie Hilleary

Sophie's design for flexible playground equipment allows for creative play.  The equipment is made of a foam material that can be shaped and manipulated.  Her concept won first prize at the KUCTC Innovation Fair

Jesse Waugh

Jesse is an industrial design student who also works as a mover on the KU campus.  He designed a dolly that would make moving safte and easy.  His construction considered the difficulties of moving items in narrow spaces and on stairs.

Austin LeRoy Swick explains his work to a crowd of people

Austin developed a design for a chair that could be created using minimal production equipment.  

_______________________________________________________
 Patrick Vincent's Block Printing
Patrick Vincent's new show at the Arts Center is worth checking out.  The artist in residence used block prints as a medium to merge portraits of people with insects.

Patrick Vincent

The Met Goes Punk?

The Metropolitan Museum of Art documents the fashion of the first wave of punk rockers and its influence on high fashion clothing in its new exhibit "Punk: Chaos to Couture." The exhibition includes over 100 garments in seven galleries.   A recreation of the CBGB bathroom, punk music and photographs of iconic punk figures, help set the tone of the show.

The exhibit shows that vogue designers borrowed some extreme punk ideas of fashion as well as the "do it yourself" aspect of punk attire, such as creating holes and adding slogans. Cliches of what punks wore prevail in the exhibit such as dresses made of trash bags (will future generations think women frequently wore trash bag dresses to punk shows?)

Perhaps this take on punk for the Met show is more British than American.  American punks of this era mostly wore a simple outfit of jeans, t-shirt, and high tops. Those with more style were often new wave, and their music was more pop.  A distinction was that the British punk scene was, for the most part, more conscious of their fashion statements. The gallery names of "Hardware Gallery" and "Destroy Gallery" are clearly influenced by the clothing designs and artistic vision of the band manager of the Sex Pistols and owned a sex and leather boutique.

The legacy of punk rock seems more a "look" than politics or philosophy of punk, as this show reflects.   Ironic that the movement that aspired to separate itself from the mainstream became not only legit, but upper crust.  The Met's new show further confirms the stance of punk absorption into accepted society as punk rockers from the bands The Clash, Television, and The Sex Pistols are flashed on gallery walls...at the Met.

The Destroy Gallery, At the Met Museum

Recreation of the CBGB bathroom at the Met Museum

Giving Dumpster Diving Its Props

Artist Dave Loewenstein has finished a comprehensive look at the action of a beloved dumpster near Downtown in his project Give,  Take, Give.  Loewenstein received a Warhol Foundation Rocket Grant for his idea to record the cycle of items dropped off and picked up at the dumpster behind the Social Service League Thrift Store.  Loewenstein has documented the dumpster process in the book Give and Take which is both text and nifty photo essay.  A quote from the book:
No one is in charge.  There are no rules.  As Kelly Nightengale says "If nobody is making the rules, no one is breaking the rules.".

Many residents in the area visit this dumpster to drop things off and/or look.  Reasons for visiting the dumpster vary: some are looking for treasures, some are supplementing an income, some believe in recycling.  Many have stories of extraordinary finds.

A big question arises, will this distinguished dumpster survive the gentrification of the area after the upscale hotel is built in the lot next store?  Time will tell.

___________________________________________
By the way, we also loved the photo essay in the blog The Larryville Chronicles, where  updated accounts of a dumpster at an apartment complex were given during Lawrence Moving Day in 2011. Photos show exchanges that happened within a few hours. See the LC essay here: http://larryvillechronicles.blogspot.com/2011/07/our-dumpster-diving-art-project-is.html

Photo via The Larryville Chronicles

_______________________________________
Photos at the reception for Give, Take, Give

Dave reading from the book Give, Take, Give

People at the reception

We ate this retro type rice crispy cake made in the shape of this cake mold ( mold found at the dumpster)

Nerd Nite gets Real Nerdy

Pic of the three presenters: Eric Melin, Jai Nitz, and Abby Olcese



Wow, what a great Nerd Nite on Thursday! At one point, Eric lead the whole crowd into an air guitar frenzy! It was epic as a thunderstorm raged outside.   Abby upped her nerd cred when she announced that she had a Monty Python themed 14th birthday party. As Abby's Monty Python's Life of Brian clip stagnated, the crowd burst into the song Always look on the bright Side of Life.

So many memorable quotes from this night, but here are a few:
@courtbelle says "Holy Sh***, @Scenstealreric can't even EVEN WATCH air guitar without Doing air guitar."
"To air is human, to air guitar is divine"
"Make air, not war""
"You can't steal anyone's invisible"

Here are some more pics from the evening.

                                          The Hash House Harrier Guys were in the crowd.

Pic of the dry t-shirt contest.  A lot of sex references on some of the nerdy t-shirts.  Who would have guessed? We loved the "Math is Sexy" shirt."

Nick gets a koozie from the Lawrence Public Library.  Nick gleefully announces "Wow, this is my new favorite thing."  We agree!

Pic of people in the audience

See you at the air guitar competition at the Record Bar June 7!

M(art)ini Time at Fatso's

M(art)ini time was a good time at Fatso's on Monday.  The Thieves Guild hosted a wonderful Mad Men inspired drawing session.  As always, The Guild provided us with a fantastic back drop for this amazing model.
The 1950's era "jiggler " exerciser was a big hit! 
See "the jiggler" in action in the pic below. 

Drawing At Fatso's on Monday and Comic Book Day at Astro Kitty

It's M(art)ini time and time for drawing at Fatso's on Monday. The Theives Guild is hosting their monthly burlesque drawing event.  This month's theme is 1950's Mad Men inspired.  

Here is what the Facebook invite says: 

Hey Cats and Kittens!

Thieves Guild is shaking up another shwanky drawing session that we're sure you'll dig.
If sketchin' is your bag then this session is sure to be a gas. 

A lovely dame of Foxy By Proxy, Dolly D. Imples, will be posing and performing!

Monday May 6th 
7:00 p.m. @ Fatso's.... 

Only 5 Washingtons!

_____________________________________________

Astro Comics had their Comic Book Day on Saturday.  Many found refuge from the dreary rain as they  sorted through stacks of comic books.  

 Charlie found an awesome Tinker Bell at Astro Kitty

@indieabby88 was excited to find these comics at Astro Kitty

Carefully choosing at Astro Kitty

 At Astro Kitty

_________________________________________
And check out the cool block prints by Paul.Punzo.   They are now at Essential Goods, located by Astro Kitty. 

Block print by Paul Punzo

Free Events Today to Beat the Rainy Day Blahs

Lawrence has reverted to a cold March day today, spoling plans for frisbee golf or flying kites.  Even though it is a rainy day, we have a few ideas of what to do.

1. Plug Project's opening for 81/2 by 11. 
The publication for this new journal is out, and available at the Plug Projects gallery and other locations.  Be sure to check it out!  Our staff has a contribution.  The cost is free.
Location: 1613 Genessee, KCMO, open until 5:00

2. . Open Drawing at KU
KU has open drawing today from 11:00-2:00.  Sarah is the model today.  Bring your own drawing supplies.  The cost is free.

3. Free Comic Book Day at Astro Kitty
Today is the 7th annual Free Comic Book Day from 1:00-7:00.  Many activities include artists doing sketches, in store appearance by writer Bobby Bierley of Yellow ( a zombie love story), and free comics from various publishers.
Check out their Facebook Page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/524483800930506/?suggestsessionid=159d86b4d31e0a1153d18624317a508e