Now,

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

THIS IS WHERE!

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

look around. ok.

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

huh? What is that?

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

...in...

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

it's open.

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

IN!

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

ok, let's.

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

wait. opening.

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

it's closed

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

sigh

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

look closely.

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

a tree and a wand.

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

tiptoe! tiptoe!

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

ok. sneak around back.

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

we're here. get out.

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

turn right.

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

stop.

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

exit here.

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

a hum.

Click it.
As part of The Blogger Show and a map's little spell.
Follow the blue square.

The Blogger Show

I'm a part of The Blogger Show, organized by John Morris of Digging Pitt Gallery in Pittsburgh. I have pieces at Digging Pitt and at the NYC venue. The press release is below, but I also wanted to preview what I'm doing on this blog for the show.

Most art blogs are almost all writing, but mine (and I'm not alone at all in this) also has a lot of my own work on it, at times set up in deliberate sequence. So blog as art distribution channel. When I was thinking about what to have in the show I strongly wanted to have a blog-component to the show, especially because I use this thing all the time to broadcast images.

So for the duration of the shows I'll be posting new images every weekday. The images will be new additions to a maps little spell, an online project I began last year. They'll be fold into the rough structure of amls, but will also function as an ongoing narrative themselves. You'll be able to "read" them here or click through and encounter them all mixed up in amls.

The first update is today, but it's only a change to the title page of amls. Monday will begin the new "story." Here's the press release for the show in Pittsburgh:

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Digging Pitt Gallery 412-605-0450 4417 Butler Street Pittsburgh PA 15201 TH 12 - 8 FR 12 - 7 SA/SU 11 - 7 and by appointment	The Blogger Show November 10 - January 12 Public Reception December 8, 2007: 6-9pm
Digging Pitt Gallery Digging Pitt Too Panza Gallery New York City, NY
Preview the exhibit
Read Bill Gusky's article
Stay current on artists and details on The Blogger Show Blog The Blogger Show Blog is -- A place to get acquainted with the artists and their blogs A forum for discussion A central clearinghouse for details and updates about the exhibits

In November, Digging Pitt will assemble work from artists whose common interest is in clarifying artistic discourse through their blogs. The Blogger Show will utilize several spaces in Pittsburgh and New York for the exhibits. All of the exhibits will take place between November 3, 2007 and January 12, 2008. Free and open to the public.

The Blogger Show

Digging Pitt Gallery began Digging Pittsburgh Arts in June 2006. The experience has been enriching for the gallery. Through active participation in the art-blogging community, Digging Pitt has brought new artists to the flat file archive, with results like the Pittsburgh Alumni show, and now, the Blogger Show.

The artists in the exhibits represent a range of visual disciplines and aesthetics. The one commonality is actively blogging. Some use blogging as a platform for discussing issues facing visual artists while others treat the blog as a public journal. Whatever approach or combination of approaches, all have brought a level of clarity to artistic discourse.

Whether your interest is contemporary painting or DIY, you'll be able to find some practitioner posting about it. This show is a reflection, in physical space, of the ephemeral blogosphere. And by its very nature, an extension of the guding philosophy behind Digging Pitt's flat file archive. - Read more

The Blogger Show @ Digging Pitt Gallery

Martin Bromirski – (Richmond VA) Anaba
Sharon Butler (Mystic, CT) – Two Coats of Paint
Lisa Call (Parker, CO) - New Work and Inspiration
F. Lennox Campello (Washington, DC) Mid Atlantic Art News
Rose Clancy (Pittsburgh, PA) – paperWorks
Kevin Clancy (Boston MA and Pittsburgh PA) - soft soft pink pulls through the ivory void
Warren Craghead - drawer
Roberta Fallon (Philadelphia PA) Fallon and Rosof's Artblog
Ann Gordon (Detroit MI) - Detroitarts
Cable Griffith (Seattle WA) - Cable Griffith
Tracy Helgeson - Works by Tracy Helgeson
Stephanie Lee Jackson (Brooklyn NY) - Pretty Lady
JT Kirkland (Washington, D.C.) - Thinking About Art
Mary Klein (Minneapolis, MN) - stillifes
Eva Lake (Portland, OR) -Eva Lake
Steven LaRose - (Ashland OR) Steven LaRose
Michael Lease (Richmond VA) - Annabelle's Aspirin
Jean McClung (Pittsburgh PA) - Urban Bytes
John Morris (Pittsburgh, PA) - Digging Pittsburgh Arts
Elizabeth Perry (Pittsburgh, PA) - Woolgathering
Christopher Reiger (New York, NY) - Hungry Hyaena
Libby Rosof (Philadelphia PA) Fallon and Rosof's Artblog
Marc Snyder (Pittsburgh, PA) - Fiji Island Mermaid Press

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and here's the one for the NYC venue:

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Agni Gallery 170 East 2nd Street, Storefront #3 New York, NY 10009 412-389-0288 WE/TH/FR/SA 1-7 and by appointment	The Blogger Show November 3- 30, 2007 Public Reception November 3, 6 - 9pm
Digging Pitt Gallery Digging Pitt Too Panza Gallery New York City, NY
Preview the exhibit
Read Bill Gusky's article
Stay current on artists and details on The Blogger Show Blog The Blogger Show Blog is -- A place to get acquainted with the artists and their blogs A forum for discussion A central clearinghouse for details and updates about the exhibits

In November, Digging Pitt will assemble work from artists whose common interest is in clarifying artistic discourse through their blogs. The Blogger Show will utilize several spaces in Pittsburgh and New York for the exhibits. All of the exhibits will take place between November 3, 2007 and January 12, 2008. Free and open to the public.

The Blogger Show

Digging Pitt Gallery began Digging Pittsburgh Arts in June 2006. The experience has been enriching for the gallery. Through active participation in the blogging community, Digging Pitt has brought new artists to the flat file archive, with results like the Pittsburgh Alumni show, and now, the Blogger Show.

Many of the bloggers put an enormous amount of time and thought into expressing their dedication to the arts. Posts range from journals to coverage of local art exhibits to political issues. The most frequented sites add an element of activity in the comments section. Most art bloggers welcome comments and encourage lively debate.

It isn’t just the artist bloggers, although there are quite a few of them. It is also the art lovers that have marshaled their personal resources to express their thoughts about what is happening in this ephemeral community. James Kalm points out in his Brooklyn Rail article, (Gangs of New York ) that the nature of the blog reflects the current pluralism that is a hallmark of contemporary art, with so many disciplines and aesthetic systems coexisting.

Tim O’Reilly defines…
Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them. (This is what I've elsewhere called "harnessing collective intelligence.")

Arts bloggers are using this technology to redefine the role of arts in American culture. The interactive aspect of blogging has encouraged the growth of artistic discourse in unexpected ways, with a shift in who and how art is discussed. One of the most significant contributions of artist bloggers to this dialog is an honest appraisal of process and theory. Using the platform of the internet to express these thoughts has included a multitude of elements. Many artists load images onto their blogs. Another aspect of the online community that has yet to make its impact felt is in the arena of regional arts that makes an exhibit in Detroit is accessible as one in New York.

The artists in the exhibits at Agni, Digging Pitt and Panza Galleries represent a range of visual disciplines and aesthetics. The one commonality is active blogging. Some use blogging as a platform for discussing issues facing visual artists while others treat the blog as a public journal. Whatever approach or combination of approaches, all have brought a level of clarity to artistic discourse. These exhibits are a reflection, in physical space, of the ephemeral blogosphere. And by its very nature, an extension of the guiding philosophy behind Digging Pitt’s flat file archive.

Excerpt from Bill Gusky's article (Artblog Comments) Read more
A number of artists have entered the blog arena, writing about art and the art world as they participate in it through their visual work. There have always been artists who write about art, and at times their writing has been highly influential; Donald Judd is one name that leaps to mind. As a new art narrative emerges, writers of all stripes – critics, historians, curators and even art bloggers -- will play a large part in shaping, interpreting and defining it.

This exhibition focuses on the work of artists who are active art blog writers. The work you see here emerged in the studio in near-simultaneity with the artist’s written expressions. These twin efforts – art making and blog writing -- sometimes appear to flow together and intertwine beautifully, and at other times almost seem to be in diametric opposition.

The relationship between written word and the created artwork suggests the erratic flow of a culture in which propaganda freely mingles with news journalism and science is polluted with articles of faith. It seems at times that the only appropriate response to the apparent untrustworthiness of all our societal and cultural expressions is a schizophrenic call-and-response in which everyone probes for even the merest scintilla of truth using tools of decidedly mixed sincerity. The questions that emerge and the answers that may or may not accompany them will hopefully provide valuable insights into ongoing cultural developments that are incredibly difficult to discern amid the maelstrom of media that beset us all, but that must ultimately be discerned if we are to gain an understanding of where we’re headed as a culture.

The Blogger Show at Agni Gallery
All of the artists involved in the Blogger Show project will have a representative work at Agni Gallery. Links, provided below, are to the artists' blogs.

Nancy Baker (Raleigh, NC) - Tire Shop
Martin Bromirski – (Richmond VA) Anaba
Sharon Butler (Mystic, CT) – Two Coats of Paint
Lisa Call (Parker, CO) - New Work and Inspiration
F. Lennox Campello (Washington DC) Mid Atlantic Art News
Rose Clancy (Pittsburgh, PA) – paperWorks
Kevin Clancy (Boston MA and Pittsburgh PA) - soft soft pink pulls through the ivory void
Susan Constanse (Pittsburgh, PA) - Oranje
Warren Craghead - drawer
Mark Creegan (Jacksonville Florida) - JaxCal.org
Christiane D (Pittsburgh PA) - Christiane D
Roberta Fallon (Philadelphia PA) Fallon and Rosof’s Artblog
Ann Gordon (Detroit MI) - Detroitarts
Cable Griffith (Seattle WA) - Cable Griffith
David Grim (Pittsburgh, PA) - Serendipity
Bill Gusky (Canton, CT) - Artblog Comments
Tracy Helgeson - Works by Tracy Helgeson
Stephanie Lee Jackson (Brooklyn NY) - Pretty Lady
JT Kirkland (Washington, D.C.) - Thinking About Art
Mary Klein (Minneapolis, MN) - stillifes
Eva Lake (Portland, OR) -Eva Lake
Steven LaRose - (Ashland OR) Steven LaRose
Michael Lease (Richmond VA) - Annabelle’s Aspirin
Joanne Mattera (New York NY) Joanne Mattera Art Blog
Rob Matthews (Philadelphia PA) - Matthews The Younger
Jean McClung (Pittsburgh PA) - Urban Bytes
John Morris (Pittsburgh, PA) - Digging Pittsburgh Arts
Loren Munk (Brooklyn NY) - James Kalm
Elizabeth Perry (Pittsburgh, PA) - Woolgathering
David Pohl (Pittsburgh, PA) - find the time to rhyme
Libby Rosof (Philadelphia PA) Fallon and Rosof’s Artblog
Chris Rywalt - (Wood Ridge NJ) NYC Art
Marc Snyder (Pittsburgh, PA) - Fiji Island Mermaid Press

Amadora again

So here's my wrap-up of the trip:

First, Lisbon. It was great, and much better because I was hanging out with locals who took me all over the place. We talked a lot about art and comics and they showed me lots of new work I had never seen. Big awesome to Pedro who was my host (and the curator of the show I was in) for being so generous with his time.

I had learned a little Portuguese and even the tiny bit I retained helped a lot. A few times I was bear-hugged by folks so happy that I had bothered to try. I ate a lot of good food (mostly fish), drank a lot of wine and saw Lisbon from a very non-tourist perspective. My first night there Pedro took me to meet pals in some club. He led me into a seemingly abandoned building, then up rickety stairs, to what looked like a run-down office. Inside was a squatter punk club, and we sat around a table with pals drinking tiny beers and talking comics. But in the corner was an old man cutting hair - with a full barber setup, including mirror, lights, chair etc. Other old man came in and got their hair cut.

One morning we went to the beach and I went surfing. Cold, clear water, chest high strong waves and some really good surfers out. I floundered a lot, but got a couple rides.

The Festival itself was outside Lisbon in a suburb, and was a series of art shows, along with booksellers, artists signing things and an auditorium for panels. The shows were all euro-comics dominated and had original art from a variety of work, mostly commercial and competent if a little boring. There was an "erotic art" show with work from Milo Manara, whose comics were pretty, but whose paintings were horrible.



The show I was in, curated by Pedro Moura, stood out as something different. Go look at my Flickr set to see it, but all of us are definitely doing weird things in "comics". Fabio Zimbres (Brazil), who was there with me, had a wide variety of wonderfully drawn and sometimes painstakingly created pages. Ilan Manouach (Greece )had lovely pencil pages that formed discontinuous narratives. Frédéric Coché (France)had the original etchings he makes his books from, and in a clever bit they showed them on short pedestals, like they were on printing beds. Hye-Rim Lee (South Korea) had her work projected, which was nice to be able to walk into them. I had work from HOW TO BE EVERYWHERE, thickets and Jefferson Forest in frames.


a page from Fabio Zimbres - all the color bits are tiny cut pieces of paper.


I could quickly see why Pedro titled the show Divide et Impera - we all pull things apart and put them together in our work. This is the first show I've been in in a while where I was excited and amazed by all the other artists work. Later I'll write about the books I got from them in depth, but for now I can really recommend anything they have available.

Other than the shows there were bookshops where I bought a lot of stuff. I also sat to sign my books and draw pictures for people - believe it or not there were folks who were fans and asked me to sign things. I drew a lot of trees for people.


Fabio, Pedro and I at our panel. This was just as Pedro began beatboxing and singing Tony Bennett songs.


So, another hearty obrigado to everyone at Amadora for including my work and getting me there. Also big awesome to people I became friends with, especially Pedro and Fabio. Trips like this with people like this are powerful fuel for making work - I came home exhausted but eager to get drawing. I had already been planning some changes in focus for my practice, and the great experience of this trip just reinforced that conclusion.