Liz Hickok’s Jell-O
Liz Hickok is a San Francisco based artist working in photography, video, sculpture, and installation, and currently Jell-O.
art
Embarrassed, Alternatively
I was somehow up and at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival before noon on Monday. It was pretty good. There were a bunch of the same artists that were there two years ago (I didn’t go last year) that I really enjoy (Jamie Perry, John Harris) and a handful of new ones that I really enjoyed (Kathleen Eaton). Gijyun might be interested to know I saw a “performance” by the two-fisted rock-me artist. He “did” Bono. Mostly it made me giggle, stare at my shoes and shake my head, and become embarrassed, alternatively. It was pretty hot there so I didn’t spend as much time looking around as I had previous times. It was a pleasant afternoon.
Art In Your Park
Art At Your Park at Eban G. Fine Park, Boulder
On Saturday Pandy and me headed up to Boulder. We went to “Art In Your Park”. A friend of ours puts together an “art in your park” event in various parks around Colorado about once a month during the summer time. He has gotten a couple grants and a bunch of permits to help bring creative outlets and artistic awareness into the public. We pack up easels, water soluble non-toxic paints (cause little kids and dogs at parks tend to spill and drink a fair amount of paint), colored pencils, markers, crayons, painting boards, tons of good quality paper, cleaning supplies, a couple of signs, and all kinds of art supplies. We then haul it out to a local park. At the park, anyone who happens be wandering through and feels the need to get a little creative is free to do so. For free! Paint as many paintings you want, of whatever you want. All creativity is welcomed, and it’s a great way to expose kids and their parents alike to art and painting. Most parks bring in lots of families with variety of income levels, race, and other demographics. It’s fun seeing everyone have a good time. Nobody has walked away from Art In your Park without a smile. Boulder was no exception and the day was a real success (the last art in the park I attended was a bit of a flop due to weather) and lasted for about six hours. And really, not much can top a whole day of lazing around a park, taking in the sun, and relaxing – paintbrush or not.
KHUBS Radio And Grey Tuesday
So I’ve been working on putting together KHUBS Radio for a little while now and I thought what better time to announce it than on Grey Tuesday.
See, DJ Danger Mouse created a remixed album consisting of Jay-Z’s Black Album and the Beatles White Album, and called it the Grey Album. Jay-Z’s record label, Roc-A-Fella, released an a capella version of his Black Album specifically to encourage remixes like this one. However, EMI claims copyright control of the Beatles November 25, 1968 released, White Album. As a result, EMI has sent cease and desist letters demanding that stores destroy their copies of the album and that websites remove them from their sites. I personally feel that if sampled music is recorded in a respectful and artistically positive way, and that the end result is fundamentally different than the original, that artists should be able release their works without worry about copyright infringement. DJ Danger Mouse’s Grey Album does just that. I’m not sure what EMI is afraid of, the Grey Album is a completely new piece of art wonderfully different from what the Beatles created. I can’t imagine the Grey Album could have any effect on the sales of the incredibly popular (and rightfully so) White Album (except maybe introduce a few hip-hop fans that have somehow escaped the unavoidable genius that is the White Ablum).
The point is we cannot allow these corporations to continue censoring art; we need common-sense reforms to the copyright law that can make sampling legal and practical for artists. So for my part, in participation of GreyTuesday, which is sponsored by Downhill Battle, you can listen to DJ Danger Mouse’s Grey Album by clicking here or the KHUBS Radio link over there on the right for a pop-up to listen to while you’re doing other stuff. Enjoy!
Rupturing Canine
This guy has been at it for a little while now. He’s come a long way since his first drawing. For some reason I really like his drawings. I can’t tell if it’s the creativity or the simplicity that I like most. Maybe it’s because it seems Sam Brown draws just because he likes to. Not for money, not as a job, or not to “express his complicated emotions”. And I love it when an artist will say this “you do not need my permission. I urge you to use my drawings however you like. print them out and hang them up. email them to friends. paint your own copies of them on your walls. use them in your Powerpoint presentations.” Anyway, if you don’t feel like exploring the links, a few of my most recent favorites can be found below. Enjoy.
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Shag
I just got in from a two-hour lunch and nobody even realized I was gone. I can’t tell if that’s a good thing or not. It’s beautiful outside and was the perfect afternoon to go walk around. I can feel the slightest bit of spring fever starting to settle into my bones. But I won’t be fooled quite yet there is still a few more snow storms left in the year (if were lucky).
The reason I took such a long lunch was to go check out a showing of some of Shag’s (Josh Agle) artwork on display at Th’Ink Tank. There were about 30+ pieces on display. Every one of them sold on opening night. Shag’s work is a cartoonish rendition of the swank 1960’s swinger or mod culture. Themes include tiki heads, shriners, spies, voodoo lounge, devils, and cocktails. A couple of my favorites can be found below. Check out his website for more.
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