UICA : Beacons

Yesterday, after braving an early 3 hour drive through snow and high wind, Michael Sirianni and I installed our work for the Beacons exhibition at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in Grand Rapids, MI. I brought Conduit (and installed it next to the concession stand), and Micheal installed 3 pieces. Here is the exhibition info:

BEACONS: AN EXHIBITION OF LUMINOUS ART
January 14–February 13
Opening Reception: January 14, 6–9 PM

Winter in West Michigan is a season of shortened days, grey skies and long, dark nights. This exhibition embraces winter's darkness and showcases the light that artists can bring to bear upon this often bleak time of year. Featuring over 30 artists, Beacons’ luminous artwork showcases film and video projections, light installations, sound installations, images and objects.

Artists include: Michelle Acuff, Dave Beck, Benjamin Bellas, Collin Bradford, Tiffany Carbonneau, Kia Carscallen, Hunter Cole, Annica Cuppetelli, Yi Joanna Dai, Mary Rachel Fanning, Adam Farcus, Tannaz Farsi, Laura Foster, Mahlon Huston, Louise Kames, Marina Kelly, Geoffrey Krawczyk, Richard Krueger, Robin Mandel, Evan Mann, Cristobal Mendoza, Daniel Olsen, Brian Peters, Nicole Pietrantoni, Randy Polumbo, Meghan Reynard, Alex Schlegel, Michael Sirianni, Ben Skinner, Scott Stibich, Annie Strader, Briana Trudell, Renee van der Stelt, and Jessica Westbrook.

Adam Farcus - Conduit (outlet, conduit box, conduit, LED lights, wire, and power source) 2010

Conduit (detail)

Conduit (detail)

Michael Sirianni - [left to right] Tell (neon) 2010; A Sign (exit sign: glass, acrylic, metal, fluorescent lights) 2010; Lasso (neon) 2010

Olympic National Park, WA

Marymere Falls

Rock|atoms of water|fir trunk,
pitched out as upside-down cigarette smoke.
(faces appear,
fortune tellers tell)
Then the buck of a
sheer lichened press
creates a white silk sheet.
Now sliding from the bed, splashes
down into the Coke-bottle mirror below.

Portland, OR

the 'rose city' - because roses happen to grow well here

repetition and form - simple but effective

sunrise over Portland - Mount Hood in the background

xmas curse and ∞

Don't Open 'Till
tag, ribbon, paper, box, curse
2010

i'm not the Grinch, each year i make an 'i really dislike xmas' piece (sometimes a few). i don't let my thoughts on the holiday ruin it for everyone (thereby, this year's piece is fairly conceptual, and only exists on my blog). but the looks on everyone's faces for this gift would be pretty amazing. also, here's a fitting poem by Michael Earl Craig:

Christmas

A man falls in a parking lot, he
has been out Christmas shopping.
His eye is right down there,
down there against the asphalt.
When he opens his eye he sees a crack.
A regular thin crack in the asphalt.
Cars go around him. He won't get up.
For it is Christmas.

He looks directly into this crack.
He does not shy away.
What he sees there even a poet could not pretend to translate.

The edges of the crack bend his eyelashes a bit.
It is cold out and the various shoppers
drive left and right, around him.

paint spectrum poem

Behr Premium Plus

150 B

Pink Eraser
Cherry
Firecracker
Poinsettia

250B

Coral Gold
Orange Spice
Poppy Glow
Crushed Oranges

350B

Lemon Souffle
Straw Hat
Wildflower Honey
Chickadee

450B

Green Trance
Lady Luck
Formal Garden
Green Grass

550B

Costa Rica Blue
Windjammer
Isle of Capri
Blue Ocean

650B

Violet Fields
Garden Pansy
Elite Wisteria
Mystical Purple

750B

Prestige
Castle Hill
Tree Bark
Thick Chocolate

*****************************

i've been considering this poem, or some variation of it, for quite a while. in an advanced creative non-fiction class i took during grad school i wrote a similar piece about 1 sheet of 4 colors of green (each color was written about as a color/trigger for a memory/story). this may not be the final form of this piece, but it is a nice start. as i use found things (objects/images) in my visual practice, i am here using the found as structure for writing - in this particular case the found IS the writing.

when it is too cold to go outside

Eliot "_______"

"poetry can communicate before it is understood"
-T.S. Eliot