i : am : i

i recently returned from a trip to Tucson Arizona and to say that i have returned as a revitalized being would be an understatement. Perhaps it was the dry air; sucking the old life from my matter and replacing it with a new refreshed source. It is as if i realized through this transaction... the value of my persitent chaos. It brings forth the well of information and vitatliy from which I draw vision. Vison, is what i have. An ability to see into the depths of scales. Watching and feeling the order in that chaos, the wealth of creativity springing from this source. i am... and it is perhaps that simple. If this is an esoteric language then perhaps i will have to be content with that; its incommunicablitiy, lost in translation. i am content with that, for i have another way to share this sensation of great willingness to rest from the insatiable need to communicate what i see throught the standardized methods of communication. The verbal language, the sounds of the toung as a dominating yet limiting way to translate the world in which i exist. i rest as i flow along the path of a strange attractor and when i act, when i communicate, i will do so through matter, through compostition, thorough void, throught the endless manifestations of an object/environment. Art, and this way of seeing, has developed and is evolving into my language, my way. i have no concern for what the observer percieves, relativity denies me of a direct translation, i trust that what they percieve is thier way to travel and in this position i currently relax; free to make, interact and be with my world. So now, i am...

a horn rush, a bass flush and a new listenting room

The bassline descends upon me as i walk into the casual atmosphere. Several chairs line the floor but where do i... Sit down , and I find myself three steps from the very sound that brought me in the door. Not the faint melody of a baby grand, the flush of the bass or the treble tone matched by ear; it was the sound of a toe tapping the pedal of a dream.

A few weeks earlier I arrived a little later than normal for my morning coffee. There in the line of the local Starbucks i found a familiar yet unknown face. Must be the tenth time I've seen this guy i think to myself, why do i focus on this moment so much. A week later I meet the same face and today I have a minute to write about the place. Ashby Anderson, that's the name... and the guy on the trombone, that's Sam Savage. There's more but the sound is what i remember the most; the sound of something i can take a minute for, perhaps more.

Slightly hidden among the developing landscape of downtown Richmond Virgina is a new and progressive space. A listening room devoted to bringing a clear and comfortable experience to the Richmond community. The Muse Creative Workshop opened with a series of Jazz sets which promise to fill the air with permutations of creativity that delight the mind and sponsor a creative movement, a higher quality of experience. Among the crowd are artists, musicians, composers and a wealth of listeners here to enjoy a night of sound and a shared experience. The success of this space is rapidly advancing and those who tire of the standardized moments of inebriation generated by an overabundance of bars and restaurants are finding this new space to be just what the doctor ordered; a clear and vibrant experience of the creative. A place where the focus is on the work of talented artists and musicians. The response in clear; more, more, more.

Plant Zero : A project in action.

I have immersed myself in an activity, a space and a vision. And now I have one of the greatest challenges of my life. The Plant Zero Project. My aim is to strengthen this space, to develop a sense of place, an identity, to uphold the integrity of contemporary works of art and the potential for art to promote the vitality of a community.

I am in pursuit of a vision; one that I have had and will always work towards. I now have the space and in the face of difficulty, of the obstacle, I see opportunity. I see that I share in this vision; a vital experience rooted in creativity, innovation, and the artistic practice. I walk through these spaces and find myself drawn towards this position; towards the responsibility. I struggle to find the financial means, and I sacrifice my old way of living to develop this place. Deep within i know that i can make this work. I can for the first time in my life become completely and fully engaged by my work, not only as the practicing artist but as the maker-thinker, the planner, the liaison.

As I search for the means to make this all possible, I find that I open doors to the future. And I smile as my success is found in the conversations I have with others. We share in this vision and I am going to continue my relentless pursuit of "Place".

Thank you, to those who support me in my efforts, and to those who don't, for the challenge, and the opportunity to exhibit the power of a shared vision.

Walk The Walk : Amie Oliver @ Plant Zero

Aime Oliver will be exhibiting a collection of works at Plant Zero in the Project Space Gallery.

Opening Reception : September 28th : 7pm - 10pm
Reading / Performance : October 26th : 7:30pm
Video Premier : November 2 : 7:00pm

Plant Zero
Project Space Gallery
0 E. 4th St.
Richmond Va. 23224

For more information please visit : http://www.amieoliver.net/ or http://www.plantzero.com/

One Less Layer : Myeongsoo Kim @ Plant Zero

One Less Layer will be exhibited September 28th through October 20th in the Plant Zero Event Space Gallery. This work exists as 21 photographic images captured during the weeks before a devastating earthquake left a series of communities in and around Pisco, Peru in a state of tragedy. Artist Myeongsoo Kim builds a careful mood using a selection of images that bring the viewer into a relationship with the people of Peru and a landscape of change.

Opening Reception : September, 28th : 6pm - 10pm

Plant Zero
Event Space Gallery
0 E. 4th St.
Richmond Va. 23224


www.mkima.com

i deconstruct i

sunday:

i cut the tense (a)sinew teathearing of the plantzero exhibition. i . Today i watch my momets unfold; as if to have been released from some temporary permanence. There is a certain enjoyment of the relationship between self and the work. The conversation, the anticipation of learning... the exploration through material, meta, and s p ( L ) ace.

monday:

i place i

i ask myself... What makes a place?

A connection to the natural, a balanced environment of human culture and environmental infrastructure; a space somewhere among the fringes of purely functional industrialism, this transitional region between the natural and the developed landscape; where moments of randomness and the recognizable patterns of urban infrastructure support each other to develop tangible moments of humanism.

Accessibility to the individual moment; where memory and imagination are brought into vivid living experience, stimulated by the surrounding environment, by the play of a sunset as it descends among the shutters of quiet residence just above. A space where the mind can gently contemplate and find happiness in the though of a new form, a spontaneous poetic line or an elegant note that completes the melody heard within.

Perhaps it is the thought, the anticipation that at just the right moment, someone will pass and pause in quiet repose and in a silent and respectful response, nod in validation of a shared emotion, a shared experience, a reverence for living and for the places that bring us closer together. And maybe just as timely one can glimpse at the conversation between the sun and the leaves of a old oak tree whose branches sway just overhead, between the moonlight and the rusty brick of a nearby garden wall, between myself and those who share in knowing this place.

i can only pause and acknowledge that there is a place in time for moments like these; that these moments are vital to my humanism, meaningful to me and in the passing conversations that i seem to frequently have, meaningful to many others.

So perhaps it is the lack of places that burdens me as i wander a somber street in search of the moment. Perhaps it is the choking of the relationship between these moments, human moments and the spaces that surround me, my culture and my community.

As an thinker, as a maker and as a man of imagination; i find places for me nearly everywhere i go. i listen to the story of a breeze as its turns up the dust on a forgotten street, i converse with the sun even when it is obscured by the implosion of city signage, bottom line development and the congesting urban infrastructure of industrial growth.

Place, is a relationship between the human moment, its space and environment. Place is a sharing of experience both individual and social, it is this vitality of connection between man, culture, and environment found in a space.

This is where i exist as i, this is place, this is what i wish to share and to cultivate as my moments are found.

i place i

Vaughn Garland Featured : WRIR 97.3 : Zero Hour

Vaughn Garland can be heard today at 12:30 on WRIR 97.3

Zero Hour : Conversations about art, culture and society : Hosted by Tim Bowring

Vaughn is a passionate member of the Richmond Virginia community, a voice for the arts and an established Painter. Vaughn recently exhibited work at the Red Door Gallery, his exemplary work "Stain" depicts the raw ability for an artist to gush; to place that very passion, that vitality held within into the surface of a canvass.

Listen for his opinions on art and culture today @ 12:30.

Listen Here:
http://www.wrir.org/

Vaughn Garland
http://www.vaughngarland.com/

Sally Bowring @ Renoylds Gallery

Renoylds Gallery will be hosting an exhibition of recent work by Sally Bowring.

Opening Night : September 14th : 7pm - 9pm

Reynolds Gallery
1514 West Main Street
Richmond, Virginia 23220
tel. 804.355.6553

Gallery Hours : Tuesday through Saturday : 10am -- 5pm
http://www.reynoldsgallery.com/
http://www.sallybowring.com/

Above image:
Copperhead Drama King
acrylic on panel
60" x 60"
2007

Sally will also be exhibiting work from September 27th to October 22 in Hudson NY.


Deborah Davis Fine Art Inc.
345 Warren Street
Hudson, NY
(518) 822-1890

http://www.sallybowring.com/

a domestic separation

First year VCU graduate students exhibit a work in evolution.

Opening September 7th in the VCU fine arts building gallery this work will exist in a state of change for the week of its showing. A closing reception will be held on September 14th where its final character can be experienced.

Don't forget to see this work as it transforms over the following week...

Installation by:

Susan Almunia

Nicole Bills

Gabriel Craig

Cari Freno

Ryan Gothrup

Akiko Jackson

Keith Mendak

Jon Sutter

Toshiyuki Tanaka

Fine Arts Building Gallery

1000 W. Broad St.

Richmond Va. 23284

Grabam Caldwell

Graham Caldwell : VCU Lecture 8.27.07

Elizabeth's Tears
Blown and Solid Glass and Steel
2002

Graham Caldwell is an artist whose vision of the world can be seen throught the lense of his recent work. Now living in Brooklyn New York, Graham recently visited the VCU campus to share thoughts on his work as art. "I am interested in the baroque diverstiy of organisms, the intersection of the organic and the mechanical, the body as architecture, as factory and as museaum."

Graham recieved his BFA in glass from Rhode Island School of Design and then went on to pursue his career in art. Today his practice has landed him several solo exhibitions in Washington DC. He has also participated in several group exhibitions, some of which extend overseas including the US Embassy in Prague. His focus on glass has provided him with a unique way of sharing his vision. Its inherent qualities have captured his attention and the relationship between he and his material can be seen in works that reflect the world around him and channel the eye of the viewer into the mulitiplicities of reocurring pattern, naturally found among the gentle teardops of glass carefully upheld by caressing curves of steel. His work permits the audience to experince the nature of realty as simple and cyclical; and yet complex in its diversity of scale and manifestation.

During his lecture it was easy to become aware of the enjoyment found through his work, his understanding of concept was dense and his way of seeing was well revealed through the images he cast upon the critique room wall; teams of teardrops, constructed of glass that captured the image of a passing day nearby. This is not the only form found among the images, however it is a dominant one. He also includes trumpet like manifolds nested within each other, undulating within space and protruding from walls. These forms become the central method of transmission, yet it is the conceptual content which drives thier creation. It is the idea and the pursuit of learning through his material that empowers the work. Accessing this conceptual information is left up to the subjective nature of the viewer and yet most would find in this work, a gentle pull towards seeing, to experiencing the nature of the lense and the oculus through which one is exposed to a condensed reality, multiplied by the scores of individual objects together communicated as a whole.






Manifold
Blown Glass & Steel
60" x 84" x 24"
2005


For more information on Graham and his work please visit:
http://www.grahamcaldwell.com/

Ink Tank & Richmond Magazine

Ink Tank recently had a write up in Richmond Magazine. The issue is due to hit the shelves in September. Be sure to get your copy.

Richmond Magazine
Ink Tank

stone and i

There was once a stone cutter who was dissatisfied with himself and with his position in life.

One day he passed a wealthy merchant's house. Through the open gateway, he saw many fine possessions and important visitors. "How powerful that merchant must be!" thought the stone cutter. He became very envious and wished that he could be like the merchant.


To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever imagined, but envied and detested by those less wealthy than himself. Soon a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair, accompanied by attendants and escorted by soldiers beating gongs. Everyone, no matter how wealthy, had to bow low before the procession. "How powerful that official is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a high official!"


Then he became the high official, carried everywhere in his embroidered sedan chair, feared and hated by the people all around. It was a hot summer day, so the official felt very uncomfortable in the sticky sedan chair. He looked up at the sun. It shone proudly in the sky, unaffected by his presence. "How powerful the sun is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the sun!"


Then he became the sun, shining fiercely down on everyone, scorching the fields, cursed by the farmers and laborers. But a huge black cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light could no longer shine on everything below. "How powerful that storm cloud is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a cloud!"


Then he became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted at by everyone. But soon he found that he was being pushed away by some great force, and realized that it was the wind. "How powerful it is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the wind!"
Then he became the wind, blowing tiles off the roofs of houses, uprooting trees, feared and hated by all below him. But after a while, he ran up against something that would not move, no matter how forcefully he blew against it - a huge, towering rock. "How powerful that rock is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a rock!"
Then he became the rock, more powerful than anything else on earth. But as he stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a chisel into the hard surface, and felt himself being changed. "What could be more powerful than I, the rock?" he thought.

He looked down and saw far below him the figure of a stone cutter.

VCU Session 4

The fog is thick in the morning sky and i am, in a slightly hasty manner, hunting with coffee in hand for a spot to park the monster of a ride, which has somehow taken me from my normal locomotion; the bicycle. (notably in the back seat) Minutes ago as i found my fated spot for the behemoth, i was instantly confronted by a woman in her nightgown. "How long are you going to park there?" she asks me with a morning like gruff tone. Ouch, i can see it coming. This vivid image of an aged woman caring for her place will be with me all day. She quickly explains, this is my house; when can i, my family, my handicapped father park here? i check the clock, 2 minutes, once again my impeccable timing has left me with no option other than to respond, " i am sorry, and i am; tired of driving, tired of not being able to walk this city and just as on edge about the state of living and the places we live. Our cities should respect the needs of its residential citizens, i think to myself. We should value those who have been here for ages before and who have every right to utilize the much tested "grandfather clause" (although slightly skewed in this example)...

There is only one thing that this could really mean. My brain is working, and ultimately VCU has got me again. A fourth session that will bring my education here most likely to a close. On to new places and new people but charged and fully present here and now. It is as if in this moment i can see the all of the sky and among the billion year old stars, just in front of me and taking up a mass within my field of vision, stands the moon; VCU, pulling at the ocean in my belly once again. The speed of light, what an mazing thing, it is that which allows for me to see millions of years into the past, presented for me in the vision of a moment as i ponder the realtionship between space and light, me and the atmosphere...

Perhaps this session, i will take those new steps towards my nearest star. For in this moment i see all the more clearly.

art : environment : function

Merwelanden nature reserve in Dordrecht

In an environment, among a city and a tide. Can art function, can the artist weild his creativity, regenerating his material, and in his action create a work of art? Here at Merwelanden nature reserve in Dordrecht, Netherlands, Lucien den Arend finds a channel to ask this very question. And in its making a statement is formed. For Lucien, yes is the answer found among the willow branches, freshly harvested from this public work created in 1990. These placed willows regenerate their branches to a desirable size on a 3 - 4 year cycle. They are then harvested and used for various projects.

I became concerned with this projects functions. It seeks to assert validity by emphasising the utility of natural processes inherent to the landscape and existing environment; perhaps a raw exposure of some post-modern naturalism (< words). The full value of this work therefore cannot be readily accessed by the lense of aestetics alone. Seen here it exsits seprately from its atmosphere captured by photographic image, and at its near best it exists as a series of punctuated moments in the memory of regularly passing viewers drawn to its transfomative nature. This work seems to validate its being through a sense of awareness, a glimpse of humanity found in the action of a maker aware of his connections to the cycles of the land. Does it fail as art and if so where? Implied here is another question. Since the acceptance of modern and conceptural art, has the art audience developed a sense of recognition which values conceptual content over other forms of artistic content? Does the experience of art today place emphasis on an aestetic system of valuation or is there a growing trend supporting the development of conceptual content in contemporary work?

Worth noting are the questions brought about by works of this nature. The extent to which this work integrates into the needs of the surrounding landscape is unknown, however it is likely that this work provides valuable flood protection and erosion control to the surrounding wetlands. What happens when a work evolves into a functioning element of its environement? Does this function recontextualize the work. Does it exist as art once seperated from the intentions of its maker? And in closing is there a balance between the inevitable modernist question "form v. function"? Does that balance point shift as one alters the environment into which the work is integrated?

i.

above artist and image.

Lucien den Arend
tribute to Cor Noltée
pollard willow project
1990


http://www.denarend.com/

For more on this work visit source page directly: http://www.denarend.com/works/site_specific_and_public_sculpture/cities/dordrecht/merwelanden/index.htm

i remind i

Two weeks ago i spent some time in New River Gourge. The climbing here and the adventure of a weekend away from the city keeps me mindful... back into the forest, back among the cliffs and the lingering smell of a morning, vanishing into a crevice near by. There is a calming note in the atmosphere. i am simply myself, being, making, and carefull to give as i learn more about a way that has become my own. It is to experience that i turn when the weeks wash over and i rarely get back to moments like these.

When i walk through these days, away from the forest, among the city's roots and branches, i am drawn to the ways that lead me through the bramble and briar of an organism changing. Placed there by the labor of many men before me; i smile when i find those "places", small spaces that lend themselves to moments. Places where humanity is reflected in the element of our making. It is the memory, the meeting of the moment with the memory that seems to bring about the smile. And i capture this image, this resonance somewhere within my person. Finding that the taste of this image is what may challenge me to respond. To act. To create. And to give.

i remind i, of the moments in life that make the path beneath my feet.

and i gain experience for the moments to come.

RED DOOR GALLERY OPENING

The RED DOOR GALLERY will be hosting an exhibition of 14 Richmond Artists begining Friday, August 24 with an opening reception.

Opening Reception : Friday : August 24 : 6pm - 10pm

Exhibition dates : August 24 - September 30

The RED DOOR GALLERY was founded in 2006 and shows original works of established and emerging artists. They concentrate on large format contemporary paintings as well as indoor and outdoor sculpture.

Gallery Hours: Wednesday to Sunday 12 to 6 pm, Friday 12 to 9 pm

RED DOOR GALLERY
1607 West Main Street
Richmond, Virginia 23220
804 358 0211

Visit http://www.reddoorgalleryva.com/ for more information.

Process Enacted: by Jordan C Greenhalgh

I have decided to share the videos that I randomly enjoy throughout my days as I work on new projects. They provide me with useful inspiration. Most of these videos are found on YouTube. Not that I am YouTube savvy or anything, but recently with my increase in time spent on the web as i update and create new work, I take a few moments out of my day to explore evolving platforms for free expression. YouTube is providing a mainstream method for sharing your creative endeavors through video and film practice. Today, i came upon this stop motion video created by Jordan C. Greenhalgh. For more information on this work you can visit the following site.

www.thechasefactory.com

Fourth Friday @ INK TANK

Fourth Friday of this month INK TANK will be having a show featuring Kristin Polich and David Culpepper.There will be an installation on the walls and t-shirts for sale.

Below is a preview of the upcoming Fourth Friday shirts. The top three are by Kristin Polich and the bottom three are by David Culpepper.

Check out the INKTANK blog for more information.

http://inkustankus.blogspot.com

or visit:

INK TANK
Studio 4
4 E. 4th St.
Richmond Va. 23224

Once upon a time in the woods

While developing the new blog sites I ran across this video on youtube...

Perhaps we forget sometimes... the power of imagination and the child we once were.


Big thanks to Ben Arthur for a moment of inspiration.

if you dig... check out his site... http://www.vocaleyes.com/benarthur

i return i

a monkey's repose...

a gap thinned by presence.
a note tempered by awarness of the breath
a teacher....
and a happy belly fish.

From my wanderings I find again the center of my being...
balanced carefully upon the way.
and so;

the wake of my path... a ripple among the moment.

careful waves remembering the strength of a quiet repose.

i return i.

i rest i

This is my concept for the weekend... Rest.

I had a silent conversation with this teacher in Greece... he said to me.. rest.

And then I thought of jazz... and the beat unheard....

And the real concept here; balance.

It is needed in everything i do.

Today i watch as a bead of glass becomes a flower.
Tomorrow i act as a raindrop retracing my steps up a seam in the stone.

There is a moment, wherein i find the breath typical...
of a path followed without footsteps.
and a burdon held without anger.


There is a place, wherein i find the light typical...
of a moring after the rainy night
and a sky just high enough to touch.



I find this way... to be my own... and then I find, among the rest... the strength to balance... in my own way.

InkTank: Get the T-Shirt

INK TANK
We are an art collective with the expressed purpose of inventing new creative ideas in all media.

Support your Richmond artist, and the local scene by getting into one of these super comfortable t-shirts.


INK TANK is a collective helping artists by printing high quality apparel; geared to the local scene.

Check out thier products Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00 @ Plant Zero Studios.

Remember these shirts are a direct way to support the richmond art scene, its artists, and those who help to bring a creative edge to the City.

Ordering Information:

Contact:

David Bruce
757.570.2344
davidbruce@davidbrucestudios.com

or visit:

INK TANK
Studio 4
4 E. 4th St.
Richmond Va. 23224

Plant Zero : i : July 27 - August 22

Work at the Project Space Gallery has now been completed. See the first of many exhibition images at www.davidbrucestudios.com