Fiji Island Mermaid Press

linocut for "Our Rarer Monsters"

2011-12-21T19:29:00.001-05:00

linocut for "Our Rarer Monsters" (Polonius) a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

A new linocut, one of eight that will accompany Noel Sloboda's "Our Rarer Monsters", which will be published by sunnyoutside press in 2012.

2" x 2", 12-19-11, animated

2011-12-19T11:33:00.001-05:00

Wind Up and Wound Up for Christmas

2011-12-17T09:24:00.001-05:00

2" x 2", 12-16-11 a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

2" x 2", 12-12-11

2011-12-12T11:05:00.001-05:00

2" x 2", 12-12-11 a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

2" x 2", 12-11-11

2011-12-12T11:04:00.001-05:00

2" x 2", 12-11-11 a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

2" x 2", 12-10-11

2011-12-10T09:58:00.001-05:00

2" x 2", 12-10-11 a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

2" x 2", 12-9-11

2011-12-09T12:00:00.001-05:00

2" x 2", 12-9-11 a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

2" x 2", 12-8-11

2011-12-08T10:50:00.001-05:00

2" x 2", 12-8-11 a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

After Rembrandt, with bonus T-Rex

2011-12-05T14:58:00.003-05:00

After Rembrandt - Pteranodon

2011-11-27T22:02:00.003-05:00

A Dutch landscape with a bonus pteranodon. Fun with the fine point pen in the sketchbook. . .

Lynda Barry thinks about why adults don't draw.

2011-11-24T09:55:00.003-05:00

"One idea I have is, the big change that happens in drawing is when a kid is drawing, the paper is a place for an experience. At some point, the paper transforms into a thing that is good or bad, rather than a place where the paper itself isn't -- you've seen kids draw and they don't give a shit [afterward], they just leave [the drawing] on the table. An adult spends the same amount of time [drawing] and they don't know what to do with it. What's it for? They get freaked out about what this thing might be for because there's this idea that it's for something. They don't do that when they take a walk or a bike ride. They don't take a bike ride and then go, "Man, what do I do with this now? I don't know if that was really good. I felt like this was a good bike ride," but then they saw this video and, "No, it wasn't a good bike ride." [Laughs]"

Lynda Barry, thinking about why adults stop drawing.

from an interview with Chris Mautner

book cover for "The TSANTA Expedition"

2011-11-23T12:47:00.002-05:00

book cover for "The TSANTA Expedition" a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

I was delighted to do the drawing for the cover of Joseph Ridgwell's "The Tsanta Expedition", beautifully produced by Bottle of Smoke Press

Ruffs

2011-11-22T09:38:00.002-05:00

Ruffs a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

Scratching in the sketchbook, working towards another linocut. . .

Current Events. . .

2011-11-21T15:51:00.002-05:00

UC Davis a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

The Nasdaq Range

2011-11-11T20:14:00.001-05:00

The Nasdaq Range a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

A crumb from my sketchbook.

a linocut for Our Rarer Monsters

2011-10-27T18:07:00.003-04:00

This is the first of eight linocuts that I am producing for "Our Rarer Monsters", a book of poetry by Noel Sloboda that will be published in 2012 by sunnyoutside press. I'm planning on posting process shots and finished linocuts from the suite of prints as I make them, so tune in over the next couple of months to cheer and/or jeer, as the results merit.

Well, nuts.

2011-10-26T10:00:00.002-04:00

One of the pleasures in my life is to wake up to see the sunrise from the top of our hill - here's this morning's edition:

Sadly, one of the pieces of that view is being chopped down today:

How could they cut that particular tree down? Don't they know that it is always beautifully silhouetted in the sunrise?

Ah well. My 5 year old daughter reassured me this morning while we were waiting for the school bus that there are lots of other trees that could be my favorite.

Library Card

2011-10-25T20:25:00.002-04:00

Computers have made some things a little less fun. Kindergartners checking out library books is one of those things.

Light Switch, from the "art for jerks" series

2011-10-24T09:58:00.004-04:00

Interested in purchasing "Light Switch"? The price is based on a sliding scale determined by the prestige of the location of the light switch. Wall-mounted toggle switch and electrical current not included.

Drawing to be Destroyed

2011-10-21T20:58:00.003-04:00

Hopefully transformed, instead of destroyed. A drawing on a linoblock that I've just started cutting.

One of the good things in life

2011-09-27T21:13:00.002-04:00

3 year olds tell odd jokes

2011-06-30T09:28:00.001-04:00

Barnabas Google, Thespian

2011-06-09T08:45:00.003-04:00

For my most recent book, I unearthed images documenting Barney Google's early career as a Shakespearean actor, before he had his big break in the comic strips.

Here's Barney Google as he is more widely known:

And here are a couple of images from the book:

You can see the entire book online, along with a growing archive of older FIMP books.

"Fleeting Pages" and FIMP on Flickr

2011-05-01T15:19:00.003-04:00

I am participating in "Fleeting Pages", a great project taking place next month in Pittsburgh. Fleeting Pages describes itself as "taking over (taking back?) a space, left empty by a failed big box bookstore, for one month, starting MAY 7th, and filling it with independent & self-published work of all kinds, book arts, workshops, and events. All revolving around written self-expression."

The location is the former Borders bookstore in East Liberty. There are currently more than 100 small press publishers, writers, and artists who will be participating, with more coming in all the time.

You can learn more about the project at their website:

Fleeting Pages

And if you are (or know) an artist making books, or a writer writing books, or a publisher publishing books, there's still time to submit work to this event.

I've also been busily uploading FIMP's archive of tiny books to Flickr - you can see all of the artwork from 25 of the tiny books at:

FIMP's books on Flickr

Eventually I'll have the majority of the 106 (and counting) books available online, so you can browse the complete results of a misspent decade at the Fiji Island Mermaid Press.

The Day Before His Great Fall

2011-04-22T10:38:00.003-04:00

These are the color collages for "The Day Before His Great Fall", FIMP book #11 from 2001. I'm slowly putting the FIMP archive up on Flickr - you can see (at this point) 24 of the books here.

I made this dopey little book 10 years ago. . .

2011-04-03T21:24:00.008-04:00

So I'm heading into year number 12 of making these little eight page books. I try to make one each month, and I mail them out to subscribers to the FIMP book of the month club.

I'm slowly posting the artwork from these books on Flickr, figuring that if I'm going to spend more than a decade doing something I might as well get it out there. Here are the
first 19 (out of 105) FIMP books that I've uploaded so far.

Here is this month's book, How To Be A Stand-Up Comic In Three Easy Steps.

I tried to model it as closely as possible on a book I made in 2001, How To Be A Magician In Three Easy Steps.

I used to do a lot more collage of the cut it out and glue it down sort back then. These days much more of it happens in the computer. My dopey sense of humor hasn't changed much in ten years, though. My standards for how the books have to look have gotten higher. Or at least, a bit more labor intensive - doesn't necessarily make for a "better" book. I guess you could be the judge of that. Sometimes I like the polish, sometimes I like the ragged edges. . .

Amazing work by JR

2011-03-25T09:11:00.000-04:00

Zinery!

2011-03-16T06:29:00.002-04:00

If you happen to be in St. Louis tonight for the Southern Graphics Council Conference, I'll have a few of my books available at Zinery, a mini exhibition and build-your-own-zine buffet by Winners Press!

Animal Walks Alone

2011-03-14T19:48:00.002-04:00

"Animal Walks Alone"

OK I'll blow bubbles
OK I'll blow some clouds
OK I'll blow some super bubbles
OK I'll walk alone
OK I'll hang from a tree
OK I'll jump up and down
OK I'll wear a broken hat
OK I'll take a sun bath

(text from 5 year old Rachel's book "Animal Walks Alone")

How To Be A Better Person

2011-03-03T21:52:00.001-05:00

Neither Baffled Nor Amazed

2011-02-24T21:34:00.004-05:00

This little book is contrary to the FIMP tradition of presenting "How To" books that really teach you nothing useful about the subject at hand. In this case, you have a magic trick that you can actually perform for anyone under 10 or so and actually fool them! Patter included!

What I enjoy about "Neither Baffled Nor Amazed" is the attempt to actually perform a magic trick in a little book. A huge success, in that I successfully perform the trick and make the coin disappear. On the other hand, of course, it fails, in that the slow step-by-step illustration of the trick allows you to clearly see where I palmed the coin and placed it in my shirt collar (you did catch that, didn't you? Don't try this trick wearing a t-shirt).

But, of course, I didn't palm the coin. It's a bunch of drawings. I just didn't draw the coin, and so it "disappeared".

But, the drawings are of an event that could actually take place, in which if you did drop the coin on the table, you could easily palm it and tuck it into your shirt collar.

There's a part of our brain that wants to follow along with the sequential images and "believe" that what we see there is actually "happening". It's fun to play with that part of our brain.

So, it's a failure as a trick, but perhaps it succeeds in tricking you into thinking that some sort of event took place that resembled a magic trick.

It's February's Book of the Month!

2011-02-21T06:53:00.005-05:00

Subscribers to the Book of the Month Club should start watching their mailboxes for "What Birds Want".

If, instead of reading, handling, enjoying, and passing around amongst your friends a satisfyingly handmade object signed by the artist, you would rather just see all of the images from the book online, you can find them right here on Flickr.

The Revolution, revisited

2011-02-15T21:02:00.007-05:00

"The Revolution" was a book-of-the-month back in 2007, but I thought I would bring it back in light of the recent awe-inspiring events in Egypt. There has been a lot of attention paid to the important role social media has played in recent events (with some dissenting views as well), so I thought I would bring back my ill-considered exploration of the subject. This book, of course, has nothing to do with the incredibly brave people who actually take to the streets and overthrow dictators - it's more about some of us who watch.

I guess I was unaware of Facebook and Twitter at the time - and look, it's the original judges from American Idol! Proof once again that a FIMP book is a poor place to find meaningful or useful information about the world around you.

Paperwhite Narcissus

2011-02-15T16:39:00.002-05:00

Along with the seedlings we've got some bulbs blooming. The Paperwhite Narcissus are very pretty and kinda smelly.

Ceaseless Seedling Drama

2011-02-05T14:08:00.005-05:00

Remember that sunflower seedling from a couple of days ago? Its second pair of leaves have opened up. I bet you were on pins and needles, weren't you? A second seedling is having trouble shedding its shell. Will I help it? No. It builds character for seedlings to solve problems like this on their own.

Sharks

2011-02-05T09:35:00.002-05:00

My daughter has a tiny rubber shark with delusions of grandeur.

Dreaming of Spring

2011-02-02T09:36:00.002-05:00

Linocuts, drawings, and collages on Flickr

2011-01-28T08:42:00.004-05:00

I'm putting together some image sets on Flickr, and found a small group of digital collages that I'd made in advance of one of my tiny books. Amazing what's hiding on the hard drive! You might want to check out the growing gallery. . .

This morning's dinosaur sketch was declared "OK" by my daughter

2011-01-27T10:01:00.002-05:00

A crumb from my sketchbook - the T-Rex Hat

2011-01-20T13:51:00.002-05:00

Click!

2011-01-20T10:27:00.001-05:00

Do You Recall?

2011-01-10T21:11:00.002-05:00

Here's the latest book from the FIMP Book of the Month Club." So you thought Rudolph was the only mutant reindeer that isolated herd at the North Pole produced? Think again!

The first sketchbook item from 2011

2011-01-01T20:53:00.001-05:00

The last drawing from 2010

2011-01-01T09:33:00.002-05:00

Deck the Halls - an exhibition at 28 West Second Gallery in Greensburg, PA

2010-12-10T08:26:00.004-05:00

28 West Second Gallery & Studio Space presents Deck the Halls: A Second Annual Holiday Exhibition, with an opening reception on Saturday, December 11, 2010 from 7 - 10 PM. Exhibition continues through December 24, 2010.

Deck the Halls features art work from local artists throughout the western Pennsylvania region: Michael Bendik, Michelle Eng-Bendik, Robert Bishop, Tony Cacalano, Kyle Fischer, John Lario, Roberta Meyers, Amy Rustic, Scott Snaden, Marc Snyder, Meeghan Triggs and more. There will be a wide variety of art work ranging from collage, fiber arts, painting, printmaking, sculpture and photography. Find a unique gift for those special people in your life!

I'm delighted to have 7 linocuts included in this exhibition, including this one, "Lunch Hour".

28 West Second is a really great gallery here in Greensburg, and I would encourage everyone who can to take this opportunity to visit it!

28 West Second
Gallery & Studio Space
28 West Second St
Greensburg, PA 15601
Website: www.28westsecond.com

Gallery Hours: Tues - Fri Noon - 6 PM/ Sat 11 AM - 4 PM / Appointments Welcome / Admission is Free

Missing The Point

2010-12-04T16:07:00.003-05:00

I've got sketchbooks full of studies from great artwork - it was something my various professors strongly encouraged, and something I encouraged my students to do. Here's a page of studies I just made where I challenged myself to create recognizable reproductions that were completely pointless in terms of learning anything significant about the artwork in question. The Rothko kind of fails at completely failing, as the values tell you a little something about the work. I think the Monet most satisfactorily succeeds at failing to convey anything meaningful about the painting in question.

Red Sky At Night

2010-12-02T07:58:00.003-05:00

Subscribers to the FIMP Book of the Month Club (which, by the way, makes a wonderfully eccentric holiday gift) will find "Red Sky At Night" in their mailboxes any day now. This book explores and expands upon the wisdom of sailors.

Rep. Joe Barton or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Carbon Dioxide

2010-11-17T10:12:00.003-05:00

“I would also point out that CO2, carbon dioxide, is not a pollutant in any normal definition of the term. … I am creating it as I talk to you. It’s in your Coca-Cola, you’re Dr. Pepper, your Perrier water. It is necessary for human life. It is odorless, colorless, tasteless, does not cause cancer, does not cause asthma.” - Rep. Joe Barton

Rachel's Animated Crocodile

2010-11-16T08:55:00.003-05:00

My four year old daughter Rachel makes "cards" where she folds a piece of paper in half, draws on the inside and the outside, and often signs her name on the back. Yesterday she had made a card and was flipping it open and closed, watching the crocodile open and close its mouth. Her first animation!

You can find more of her wonderful drawings at Rachel Draws A Lot.

Educational and Instructive! Scientifically Designed! Beautiful Old Box!

2010-11-09T08:39:00.003-05:00

Christmas Island Pipistrelle

2010-11-07T15:57:00.002-05:00

I've found that if I draw something I'm more likely to remember it, so I thought I'd draw something that should be remembered.

A Little Drawing Of My Little Daughter Drawing.

2010-11-06T10:29:00.002-04:00

Where Are They Now?

2010-10-29T20:20:00.003-04:00

Tinseltown is a tough place to be a robot. So many of our mechanical stars have their one huge role, and then never catch the eye of another casting director. October's Book of the Month asks the question "Where Are They Now?"

Where Are They Now? R2D2 and C3PO

2010-10-29T20:19:00.001-04:00

One of the few robots to continue to find work in the theater, R2D2 is currently performing as Vladimir in an Off-Off-Broadway production of Waiting for Godot.

C3PO performs as Paul in "Meet The Re-Peatles", a Beatles tribute band.

Here's a clip from "Star Wars", the film that introduced us to these consummate performers:

Where Are They Now? Computer

2010-10-29T20:18:00.001-04:00

Computer was really the robot's robot. Highly respected amongst her peers, but receiving little recognition from the broader public for her groundbreaking work in the original "Star Trek" series. She can be found these days doing voiceover work for several GPS companies.

Computer in a moment of hair-raising drama from "Star Trek":

Where Are They Now? Gort

2010-10-29T20:17:00.001-04:00

Gort currently is filling in for the vacationing "Big Tex" at the State Fair of Texas, a nice break from his regular gig of holding a giant muffler in front of an auto parts shop.

The world was first introduced to this stellar talent in "The Day The Earth Stood Still".

Where Are They Now? Hal 9000

2010-10-29T20:16:00.001-04:00

Sadly, Hal 9000 has abandoned his career as a performer. Despite his astonishing and moving performance in 2001, he was unable to find more work in Hollywood, and has returned to his hometown of Urbana, Illinois. He is currently working as a red light camera. He refuses all interview requests.

Here's a clip from 2001:

Where Are They Now? Robot

2010-10-29T20:15:00.001-04:00

Unable to cope with life after "Lost in Space", Robot has had a rough time, having been in and out of rehab many times over the years, battling his inner demons. These days he is working as a grocery bagger, just trying to stay clean and sober, taking it one day at a time.

Here's Robot in better days:

Ketchup spoon

2010-10-28T08:22:00.001-04:00

This Just In!

2010-10-21T20:41:00.001-04:00

Why did they bury a story like this on page 12?

Shark on Driveway

2010-10-14T08:29:00.002-04:00

See the finished drawing at Rachel Draws A Lot.

Crane on Couch

2010-10-12T21:33:00.001-04:00

Mr. Anteater Does Not Suffer Fools Gladly.

2010-10-11T08:34:00.002-04:00

Art Lesson

2010-10-09T08:42:00.002-04:00

I'm sitting on the couch, drawing with my daughter Rachel. I'm drawing the couch we're sitting on, and the bookshelves next to it - just a little perspective drawing. She's watching, and guessing what I'm going to draw next. I draw one of her drawings in a large frame hanging above the couch. She turns around and looks at the bare wall and says "Where is it?!".

More soon. . .

2010-10-03T14:16:00.003-04:00

The suspense is just killing you, isn't it?

Mr. Anteater Stars in the 100th FIMP Book of the Month

2010-09-18T21:18:00.002-04:00

Here's the cover to September's Book of the Month. Back in 2000 I mailed out A Short Short Fairy Tail Tale to a few folks. I never suspected I'd still be making these tiny books ten years later. This month's offering is the 100th book in the series.

Liftoff! Rachel draws an animal in a rocket.

2010-09-17T08:45:00.001-04:00

For more of Rachel's drawings visit Rachel Draws A Lot.

If it were up to my daughter, I would just make contour drawings.

2010-09-07T13:16:00.002-04:00

Our house is full of tiny creatures.

2010-09-02T10:13:00.002-04:00

Critique

2010-09-01T10:06:00.002-04:00

Meat Motor

2010-08-20T16:39:00.002-04:00

charcoal and acrylic, 20" x 20"

The Scrambler

2010-08-16T15:42:00.002-04:00

skate park

2010-08-09T20:35:00.003-04:00

in the desert

2010-08-06T15:13:00.002-04:00

Loud Duck.

2010-08-03T15:17:00.002-04:00

Stampede!

2010-08-03T14:01:00.003-04:00

The Green in Greensburg - Alternative Energy

2010-08-02T08:50:00.004-04:00

Greensburg's way ahead of the curve when it comes to alternative sources of energy. We have drawn on the enormous potential of trees to power the grid. Here's one of the tree-outlets. It's kind of like tapping them for maple syrup. . . you'd be amazed at how much electricity is generated by all of those fluttering leaves.

How To Draw Ernest Hemingway, FIMP's 3rd How To Draw book

2010-07-30T16:15:00.002-04:00

"How To Draw Ernest Hemingway" will be arriving in FIMP Book of the Month Club subscribers' mailboxes in the next couple of days - it went to the post office this afternoon.

"How To Draw Ernest Hemingway" is the third of FIMP's "How To Draw" books, which have included "How To Draw Jean Paul Sartre (With Genuine Human Dignity)" and "How To Draw Sigmund Freud (And Your Subconscious Reasons For Doing So)".

My standard disclaimer is, of course, that you will learn absolutely nothing useful about drawing by reading these books.

A Face

2010-07-28T21:06:00.003-04:00

More of Rachel's drawings at Rachel Draws A Lot.

Another Motor

2010-07-22T16:37:00.001-04:00

charcoal and acrylic, 12" x 16"

Motor

2010-07-16T16:24:00.001-04:00

charcoal and acrylic, 20" x 20"

My 4 year old explains things.

2010-07-15T16:26:00.001-04:00

"The moon goes around the earth. The earth goes around the sun. The sun is in the middle. The dinosaurs stay in the museum. The museum stays in Pittsburgh."

More of Rachel's drawings at Rachel Draws A Lot.

Before and After

2010-07-02T07:40:00.004-04:00

"Before and After" is the 98th tiny book published by the Fiji Island Mermaid Press. It's not my usual practice to reproduce the entire book on the blog right after it's been sent out to FIMP Book of the Month subscribers, but this one is dealing with the ongoing oil spill, and it seems to make sense to put it out there while that horrible situation is still unfolding.

I'm happy with this month's book for a couple of reasons. Back in my graduate school days at Indiana University I studied concrete poetry with Mary Ellen Solt, and this book puts some of those ideas to use. She was a great professor - I remember her passing out her syllabus in two week increments over the course of the semester, as she was putting the class together as she went along, being responsive to what was happening with the students. Pretty amazing for someone who was near the end of a long teaching career. If she were still around I'd send her one of these. . .

I'm pleased with the way this book translates to xerox. As a printmaker I always feel like my work should take advantage of the peculiar strengths of whatever medium I'm working in, and that includes xerography. I don't always achieve that, but in this case the xerox did nice things to the pages that include both laser-printed and rubber-stamped text. Things that I wanted it to do, like increasing the contrast and making them less distinct from each other, so that the "OIL" stamp takes a few more seconds to read as something other than just pattern and noise. In the xerox, you're much more likely to see the page as a picture first, before you start reading, than you do with the "printing plate" from which the xerox is made. It's nice when things like that actually work out the way you hoped they would.

And I'm happy that the front and back covers are full participants in the little drama of the book. I especially like the back cover - I sacrificed the usual FIMP logo for the drama of the black swallowing up the page.

So, anyway, I'm happy with this one, and that's why. I wish the subject matter were something less awful. There's something that makes me sick.

Different Perspectives

2010-06-23T21:25:00.006-04:00

The way my four year old daughter sees me:

The way my twenty year old nephew sees me:

Why Draw? Richard Serra.

2010-06-22T14:30:00.002-04:00

You might also like to know what William Kentridge, Jim Dine, and Mauricio Lasansky have had to say about drawing.

Orange Beach, Alabama

2010-06-22T09:05:00.001-04:00

photograph by Dave Martin, AP

I gotta find me a good "project".

2010-06-18T15:22:00.001-04:00

All of these "Not Now, I'm Busy" things are now available for perusal in chronological order on FIMP.

Orson Whales by Alex Itin

2010-06-18T07:53:00.002-04:00

Follow Alex Itin at his blog, IT IN Place.

I don't want my fifteen minutes, I just want to go viral.

2010-06-15T14:53:00.001-04:00

This Is Your Brain On The Web, OMG Cat!

2010-06-14T07:07:00.001-04:00

Harnessing The Awesome Power Of Social Media To Make A Better World

2010-06-13T08:05:00.001-04:00

Getting The Word Out

2010-06-11T07:14:00.005-04:00

All of these "Not Now, I'm Busy" things are now available for perusal in chronological order on FIMP.

Not Now, I'm Busy

2010-06-09T09:35:00.003-04:00

Rachel's Shark Has Such Teeth, Dear!

2010-06-07T07:46:00.002-04:00

Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear
And it shows them pearly white
Just a jackknife has old MacHeath, babe
And he keeps it … ah … out of sight.

Ya know when that shark bites, with his teeth, babe
Scarlet billows start to spread
Fancy gloves, though, wears old MacHeath, babe
So there’s nevah, nevah a trace of red.

More of Rachel's drawings here, without Bobby Darin, or Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht for that matter.

Jason Polan drawing at MOMA

2010-06-06T10:20:00.001-04:00

Portrait Session

2010-06-03T16:24:00.002-04:00

How To Make Good Pictures

2010-06-03T15:24:00.001-04:00

Now if I could only find the manual that explains why. . .

Betty & Pies

2010-06-01T14:33:00.006-04:00

"Betty & Pies", a beautiful little slice of rubber-stampishness found on the inside lid of an "American Sign Printer" set from 1935.

I suspect that I have a habit that I share with a lot of other printmakers out there; collecting old printing toys and tools. You can never have too many things that can take ink and make a mark on paper. I'm not sure how many rubber stamp alphabets I own.

This one's missing the J and K, but it has a wonderful star and ampersand, and the lid of the box is enough to make it a treasure. That ink pad is pretty nifty too.

A Teller Is Available

2010-05-28T15:08:00.011-04:00

"A Teller Is Available", currently on view at venues throughout Greensburg, does a masterful job of leading the viewer away from his or her accustomed role of passive observer towards the much more dynamic situation of being an active participant in the creation of this provocative piece of performance art. This ongoing performance raises difficult questions about the role of the artist, and the loss of the artist's identity in the artwork itself.

The basic elements of this artwork are simple. All of the performances take place at “Banks”, spaces that vary only slightly from Bank to Bank. You enter the “Lobby”, a fairly open area with a table containing various documents necessary to conducting business with the Bank. After choosing from a range of possible transactions, you take your place in a line, waiting for your chance to interact with the artist or “Teller”. Strategically placed ropes create a labyrinth for you to walk as you approach the central area of the performance. The meditative quality of walking the labyrinth seems to prepare the viewer for the encounter with the Teller.

The time it takes to make your way to the front of the line varies depending on the number of participants in the performance and the complexity of the transactions that they choose to perform with their Teller. The mood in the line tended towards boredom, with a hint of impatience at viewers who seemed to be making unnecessary demands on the Tellers. But this preliminary wait seemed to heighten the experience of hearing a Teller call out “Next, please”, accompanied as it was by the realization that you were, indeed, now entering the performance as a full participant.

Documents in hand, you approach the “Teller Window”. The Teller Window was basically a gap in a wall allowing you to interact with the Teller without actually entering the Teller’s space. The wall rose to approximately eye level, and the “window” was a shallow tabletop inset at about chest height into the wall upon which documents could be passed between the Teller and the viewer, with about 6 inches of free space between the tabletop and a thick piece of glass that filled the gap up to the top of the wall. Nothing about this arrangement hampered communication between the Teller and the viewer, but it created a clear sense of our space versus the space of the Tellers.

At this point, you the viewer become the “Customer”. On the days when I witnessed and participated in the performance, the exchange between Teller and Customer typically consisted of several distinct steps. Both Teller and Customer are standing, with the Teller Window between them. The first step was “Small Talk”, often consisting of a question for the Customer such as “Is it still raining out there?” The Teller’s existence as part of an artwork separated from “the real world” was emphasized by these questions. The Customer was brought to realize that he or she could leave at any time, whereas the Teller was essentially trapped within the performance. After the Small Talk, the Teller queried the Customer as to the nature of the transactions that they were going to perform. The Customer then hands the Teller the forms which had been prepared in the Lobby. The Teller takes the forms, and consults the Bank as to the feasibility of conducting the requested transactions with the Customer. The fate of the Customer is being “Told” here, as the Bank, not the Teller, has decided the success or failure of the Customer’s transaction.

Here the Teller truly becomes an interface for the Bank, and it is this point in the performance that the strangeness of the roles being played was the most striking. Where earlier the Teller had some freedom to modify the performance, such as replacing “Is it still raining out there?” with “How old is your little girl?” in the Small Talk, at this point in the piece the Teller loses his or her autonomy to make decisions, and simply must either complete the transaction if it met with the Bank’s approval, or reject the transaction if some criteria of the Bank’s was not met.

If the Customer’s attempts to conduct business with the Bank fail, the forms are returned to the Customer. If, on the other hand, the transaction is successful, the Customer is provided with a small printed “receipt” to keep as a record of their participation. Either way, the Customer leaves the performance with some documentation of the event, though the documentation does little to record the human interactions between artist and viewer. The performance typically ends with the Teller wishing the Customer “a nice day”.

As you leave the Bank and head towards your car, you are left to ponder the performance that you just helped to create. Has the artist been sacrificed to make the artwork, swallowed up by the Bank for eight hours a day, repeating the same actions again and again for the edification of each new viewer? Is the artist a Teller when no one is at the Teller Window? Once again it is demonstrated that the artwork only exists in the presence of a viewer, that we make the artwork as much as the artist. Consistent with the history of performance art, questions about art as a commodity have been raised - was the artwork's value dependent on the funds being exchanged by the Bank and the Customer, or was the performance itself the thing of value? Many viewers, in their roles as Customers, were powerfully moved by their interactions with the Teller. Was this a testament to the skill of the artist, or was it more of a reflection of what the viewer brought to the performance? I think it is this last point that made the strongest impression on me, that "A Teller Is Available" ultimately acts as a mirror of the viewer - it’s your response to this powerful and poignant performance that creates the meaning of the work, and whatever you were "told" was something that, on some level, you already knew.

Metronome

2010-05-27T16:08:00.001-04:00

charcoal on BFK Rives, 12" x 16"