50 Places

Subscriber's to the Fiji Island Mermaid Press Book of the Month Club should already have "50 Places I've Already Seen". It's an autobiography of sorts, playing off of the popular "1000 Places You Should See Before You Die". Part of FIMP's way of seeing things is to try and love the place you're at - that's something I learned from dogs and babies. So this book celebrates those places that you probably didn't plan your trip around, but are awfully darn wonderful anyway. Everyone's list would be different - a self-portrait.


The artist as a young man, searching for the fountain of youth at the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum
The image above didn't make it into the book, but is undoubtedly a formative one. I think that's the first place I encountered the Fiji Island Mermaid. It's amazing that I can type this blog entry, considering what those crocodiles were doing to my hands.


In other news, the Zero Sum Art Project continues on its merry way, with Zero Sum #16 currently up for sale. Visit the auction on eBay to see the entire painting/collage.

News you need.

Russian fishermen catch squeaking alien and eat it.

It just doesn't get much better than that.

a must-see at the Digging Pitt Gallery

If you're in or near PIttsburgh, you should stop by the Digging Pitt Gallery this weekend, for the closing reception of Marci Gehring's show. The painting shown above (borrowed from Digging Pitt's website) is a floor to ceiling piece that is really quite wonderful. The artist manages to create images with very intensely worked surfaces that reward close inspection, while still working on a very large scale. Great stuff! The closing reception is June 2, from 6 - 9, and the gallery is open Thursday through Sunday if you can't make the reception.

And, should you be thinking a little further ahead, you might also want to jot down June 16 in your calendar book. That's the date for the opening reception of Inside Out Six: Selections from the Flat Files - Side II, also at Digging Pitt. This is a show curated from Digging Pitt's extensive flat files, and I'm delighted to say that I'll be one of the fourteen artists included in the exhibition.

Uncle FIMP's Storytime

Here's a little bit of silliness for you:

If you would like to purchase "Once Upon A Time", the tiny book that takes Uncle FIMP by surprise in this video, just visit FIMP's auctions on eBay!

d. a. levy

Making the Jim Lowell linocut for Bottle of Smoke Press got me thinking that it was about time that I did a portrait of d. a. levy. So, here it is!

"Cop", and more!

Here's a new one - actually, a new old one - well, let's just say here's your first chance to buy "Cop", as #1 of an edition of 10 goes up for auction on eBay, along with a number of other linocuts. Go check 'em out.

Jim Lowell linocut for Bottle #5

I recently completed this linocut for the cover of Bottle #5, a collection of broadsides by 20 poets published by Bottle of Smoke Press. This image is another in a series of heroes of the small press that I have made for the Bottle broadsides. The subject is Jim Lowell, and that flowering plant is a reference to Asphodel, his bookshop. Jim Lowell was a bookseller in Cleveland, where he specialized in first-edition, small-press publications, especially those of the counterculture movement of the '60s.

I printed this 2.5" x 2.75" linocut in an edition of 40, all of which will be found on the covers of a special first edition of Bottle #5, signed by all of the living contributors. Bottle #5 includes 20 letterpressed broadsides by 20 different poets, with a healthy mix of styles and poems from both well established poets (including Charles Bukowski) and some younger writers. Bill Roberts has hand-set all of these broadsides with various type and has fed them with those very same hands into his 1914 Chandler & Price press, without losing a single finger. The broadsides are printed on various colors of high quality cardstock. Bill does beautiful work, and his letterpressed broadsides are as much a delight to hold and to look at as they are to read.

There will be a regular edition of 200 available as well, where the Lowell linocut will be reproduced on the cover.

The first edition of 200 will cost $25.00, the special edtion of 40 signed by all of the living contributors and including the original linocut will cost $150.00. If history is any guide, that special edition will probably sell out quickly, and orders should be placed in the next week to insure a copy. If you want to reserve a Bottle #5, you should visit Bottle of Smoke Press at http://www.bospress.net/index_current.htm for details.

Strolling Around

A few weeks ago I mentioned a math problem that was apparently a piece of graffiti. Sadly, as time has passed the yellow utility box has lost some of its strangeness, as the long division has been obscured by later additions to the box.



Though I must admit, the printmaker in me likes the new sticker.

Speaking of printmakers, some street art that is pretty spectacular that pops up in Pittsburgh once in a while is that of Swoon. I found this video of one of her murals through the very excellent blog of Pittsburgh's Digging Pitt Gallery.




Sadly, Swoon's work isn't something that I see on my daily stroll with my baby daughter. Which isn't to say that we don't see a lot of neat stuff. We frequently roll along Walnut Street, where my favorite artworks are the telephone poles, with their wonderful encrustations of staples and nails and such.



My daughter's favorite sculpture seems to be this fire hydrant, which we have to very carefully inspect every time we pass it:



Based on our strolls, you'd think that the next time we wander through a museum she'll be really excited about this:


Jeff Koons, Rabbit, 1986

and daddy might be more interested in this:


Kongo "Power Figure in the form of a two-headed dog", the Congo

though I must admit I'm pretty fond of the bunny, too.

I am trying

It's the Book of the Month!

Subscribers to the Fiji Island Mermaid Press Artist's Book of the Month Club will soon be receiving "We Should All Be Flapping Around On Wax Wings". Finally, a good explanation of the relationship between Daedalus, Icarus, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: footnotes

cover

In a tribute to T. S. Eliot and Oliver Sacks, I thought I would provide a few footnotes to the most recent FIMP Book of the Month, "The Revolution". That's the cover up there, and here comes the first couple of pages.


pages 1 & 2

"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" is the first line of a very widely quoted poem by Gil Scott-Heron, which he first recorded in 1970, accompanied by congas and bongo drums. The video below will give you the poem in full. . .



Cell phone video is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its invention by Philippe Kahn this year.


The revolution being caught on video on page 1 is Eugene Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the People", painted in 1830.


pages 3 & 4

You Tube was Time's Invention of the Year for 2006. Everything on video ends up on You Tube at one point or another.

OMG translates to "Oh My God!" in the world of text messaging, internet chatrooms and online discussion boards. LMAO is "Laughing My Ass Off". Use them wisely.


pages 5 & 6

Recently in the grocery store I was eavesdropping on a conversation about someone who was dressed "all crazy and shit". I would like to see what that looks like.

It's possible that visitors from outside the U.S. might not recognize the three seated figures on the bottom right of the page as the three judges from "American Idol", a very popular television talent show devoted to incredibly generic popular music. Here the judges are assessing the performance of Che Guevara (1928 - 1967), a Marxist Revolutionary who has appeared on more t-shirts, coffee mugs, and baseball caps than any American Idol winner ever will.


This photograph by Alberto Korda is the iconic Che Guevara that appears on all of those t-shirts.


back cover

So there you have it, book lovers. You subscribers out there - you're fantastic.

I had to get up before sunrise for work to join a gathering of people excited about watching an implosion. The building was called the Intel Shell - a remnant of the dot.com bust. Intel started construction and ran out of money and pulled back leaving a half finished eye-sore in downtown.

Austin ain't Vegas. We don't get many building implosions here. Lots of people came early for the show. I overheard many people say they got up hours ahead of time to make sure they didn't miss it.

My favorite thing I saw there was this guy's homemade hat adorned with the image of the building. One reason is simply the shape reminds me of a Pope hat. He should have been pushing the button wearing that thing. I also applaud his crafty-ness and enthusiasm.

I feel like this happy guy and his hat tell you all you need to know about Austin's enthusiasm for getting rid of an old eyesore.

For anyone who still thinks they need to see a good ol' fashion implosion, here it is:

Digging Pitt Gallery, Zero Sum #10, and an apology

If you're in Pittsburgh, you should put a visit to Digging Pitt Gallery on your list of things to do. Not only are the exhibitions consistently interesting, but the director John Morris maintains an extensive set of flat files, making the artwork of over 140 local, national, and international artists available to anyone who comes in the gallery. And as of recently, I'm one of those artists, so there you go.


If you want to see what's looming in the sky above this happy postal worker, you should visit the auction for Zero Sum #10 on eBay. It's a nice chunky collage of a painting.

One of the curious and amusing features about this blog for me is that the counter at the bottom allows you to see what brought people to the site - how they were referred. Ideally they would arrive here having done a search on google for, say, "nice chunky collage of a painting", and be happy to have found something related to their online quest. Sadly, it seems that for some reason a large proportion of FIMP's visitors arrive here looking for information on one of two topics - the Fiji Islands, or Mermaids. Quite a few are looking for instruction on how to draw mermaids. And despite the fact that this is the Fiji Island Mermaid Press, they find no relevant information whatsoever on their topics of interest.


Barnum's mermaid, as depicted in the New York Herald in 1842

One of these days, I need to discuss the origin of this grossly misleading title. For now, I'll just tell you that the Fiji Island Mermaid was one of P.T. Barnum's exhibits, a gaffe made up of the top half of a monkey sewn to the bottom half of a fish. I'm a big fan of Mr. Barnum, his display of this object, and his encouragement of the public to debate its "reality". It reminds me of a lot of things I find interesting about art.

So, my apologies to those web-surfers who have washed ashore on FIMP and been grossly disappointed. I'll have to work up a "how to draw a Fiji Island Mermaid" one of these days. . .

Zero Sum #8

If you've been thinking "Gee, it's been a long time since I've seen a mixed-media painting that included a quail, four postage stamps, and a zeppelin hangar", than you should go check out Zero Sum #8! Get all the vital stats, and even consider buying the thing, by visiting the Zero Sum auction on eBay!

A Mime of the Times

Subscribers to the FIMP Book of the Month Club will be receiving "A Mime of the Times" in their mailbox any day now. You know, they say you should be a life-long learner. This month I learned not to trust people at the costume store when they tell you how easy it is to wash that stuff off. And I learned why so few mimes have facial hair.

Zero Sum Art Project gallery update.

The Zero Sum Art Project has reached Zero Sum #7. Keep track of the whole project by either visiting the Zero Sum Art Blog or the Zero Sum Art Gallery Space on FIMP.

Goldstein records

goldstein records
Originally uploaded by jgk79.

Seen at the Austin Museum's New York 1974-1984 show. Having recently been bitten by the vinyl bug I was very appreciative of the multi-colored 7" vinyl as objects to be admired - as well as containing some crazy sound effects that Jack Goldstein recorded.

Most of my fascination with records has been with the physicality of the object that contains the music. I like the weight of the disc in my hand, especially the nicer heavier ones. Having grown up with digital stuff, ones and zeros spitting out music is not magical to me. A little groove vibrating a needle to spit out stereo music is still fascinating.

All I could think about for the rest of the time I was at the museum was putting those wonderful little discs on a phonograph and playing them. I don't think the museum staff would have let me, so I refrained from pulling them off the wall.

Not nearly as magical, but a more ephemeral way to hear the discs can be found here.

Unimpressive

It's a new video from the Cinema Department at FIMP:



So, if you wanted to have yourself a FIMP film festival, which would last about 4 minutes, you could watch The Tower of Babel and I've Wanted More Than Anything To Have Your Respect, after you have recovered from "Unimpressed".

A detail

Here's a detail from a collaborative collage that Justin Kasulka and I have been knocking about. It's my turn. I hate to touch it, though - Justin's done such nice stuff. So I'll post a piece of it here before I abuse it in the studio.

An ever-growing Zero Sum Art Exhibition

I've added a Zero Sum Art Gallery on the Fiji Island Mermaid website, so that you can follow the continually growing collection of Zero Sum Artworks, along with all of the accompanying statistics of the project. Check it out, and let me know if there's anything else that you would like to see there.

Snacks or Treats? A Quiz.

So, I was doing a little inventory in our house to see how many foods we had that were shaped like things. Here they are:



If these are meant for human consumption, they're called "snacks", if they're for one of the pets, they're called "treats". Your quiz is to identify which are for babies and which are for animals. Bonus points if you can identify which animal gets which treat.

It's semi-interesting to note that the intended eaters of these snacks/treats don't care at all about the shapes. The shapes are solely for the amusement of the treat/snack dispensers, not the eaters. This might not be the case for kiddie cereals, a source of lots and lots of food shaped like stuff, but, alas, we currently only have very boring flaky type cereals in the house.

Zero Sum #6

The Zero Sum Art Project keeps rocking along. This is a detail from Zero Sum #6 - you can see the entire piece in detail by visiting the auction on eBay where it is being sold.

A Little Mystery.

Almost every day when I'm out walking I see this yellow utility box.



Someone worked a math problem on the side of the box, using a broad magic marker and a very large hand. Each number is about 6 - 8 inches tall.

Now, when you're walking about, you often see codes and symbols spray-painted on the streets by various city employees, describing the locations of various electrical and phone and water and sewage lines, in preparation for tearing up the road or somesuch thing. You also often see graffiti, highly stylized signatures and "tags" spraypainted on just about anything that doesn't move, that some see as art and others see as vandalism.

So here's what's bugging me. What is this long-division problem?

At first this box just blends into the environment. The numbers have the look of something that a utility worker would have left behind for some officially sanctioned reason. But if you pass by it everyday, and eventually look at it closely, you realize that it's not a code or anything that carries any kind of significant information. It's 27 divided by 4.

Would someone working on the phone lines work such a problem on the side of a utility box? This isn't spray-painted on a piece of road that is going to be torn up - it's been sitting there for months, a permanent addition to the landscape. Wouldn't a utility worker use a piece of scrap paper? And wouldn't this person be able to work out that six fours fit in twenty-seven in his or her head? I kinda hope so!

So, I'm guessing it's not something left behind by someone actually working on the phone lines. In that case it must be a graffito.

But who would bother to work a long division problem as their "tag"? It doesn't identify the tagger in any way, the writing isn't stylized, it makes no statement beyond the answer to the math problem. . . If it's graffiti, it's the least effective example I've ever seen.

Or, maybe it's the most effective. It's the only one I've felt compelled to "blog" about, anyway.

New Year's Resolutions!

If you're a FIMP Book of the Month subscriber, and you haven't made those all-important New Year's Resolutions yet, don't worry! FIMP to the rescue! You will soon receive "New Year's Resolutions: or How to Be a Better Person". Now, the post office is closed tomorrow, and I think it just might be closed Tuesday too, so the books will go out Wednesday, which may mean you have to float aimlessly in 2007 for a week or so. But soon enough all will be well, and you will be able to stride confidently into the future knowing that you have made those changes necessary to be healthier, smarter, and better.

Temporary technical difficulties, please stand by

The Fiji Island Mermaid Press mothership, fimp.net, is moving to a roomier server in order to provide you with more images and pages and such in the future. Unfortunately, for the next day or two, most of my images on the web and the FIMP website itself will be out of commission. Tragic, yes, but necessary. It will all be sorted out soon, don't worry.