Portland conceptual artist Abraham Ingle’s first solo show is quite a curious one. Starting today at False Front Studio in Portland, Ingle will be displayed his socially-inspired art. The show, entitled If A Tree Falls… consists of all new practice projects which explore notions of presence in the age of “always on.” You should definitely visit this blog post on Ingle’s website to view more of the summary, but I’ll pick and choose a couple of interesting components to the six-part show:

Interruptions is a series of three videos that mix content from social media, drama, and real life to explore interaction. Interruptions was made in collaboration with Dustin Zemel.

A collaboration with The Portrait Booth Project, This is How I See You uses portraiture to juxtapose states of hyper-awareness and obliviousness.

The entire show will be streaming on Chat Roulette the entire time. YES.

This is sure to be a fascinating show.

With the proliferation of text-messaging and chat conversations and all sorts of data! being! transmitted! at! amazing!! speeds!!! throughout the world at any given SECOND, and in all sorts of RiDiCuLuZ FoRmZ, it seems only appropriate to base one show… or maybe even tons of shows… off of this theme. Which leads me to this post.

James Harris Gallery in Seattle currently has a group exhibition going on entitled TXT. Graphics and text converge to create two- and three- dimensional works that can be interpreted on multiple levels by viewers. This show runs through August 20th. Here are some of the pieces:

Lawrence Lemaoana’s Things Fall Apart, 2009
Textile (49″ x 32″)

Walter Robinson’s Forest, 2008
MDF, Epoxy, metalflake (84″ x 62″ x 1″)

Anthony Discenza’s EVERYTHING YOU’VE HEARD, 2009
Vinyl on aluminum, Ed. of 5 (24″ x 18″)

Alejandro Cesarco’s Footnote #7, 2008
Vinyl text on wall, Ed. of 5

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On a similar note, Portland’s Recess Gallery has an open call to artists who are working with text. Call is as follows:

Work that recontextualizes the text. Work that informs, invites, or inquires. Work that sends, receives, documents messages/ideas. Work that does work. Work you made. Work that you and someone else made. Work that you want to make with people. Work that is technically proficient? Sure. Work about ideas about ideas about ideas. Work in Helvetica. Work in Garamond. Work in video. Works on paper.

Do you have something that seems to fit? Does it coincide with at least three of the above statements? That’s okay, even if it doesn’t, you should send it to

recesspdx@gmail.com by the end of July for a show opening in the middle of August.

Please include your proposal/project description/artist statement along with some contact informtion, artist bio, or link to a relevant/personal website.
Suggested Additions:
Images of proposed work
Images of recent work
Your phone number

If you have any questions or concerns, please direct them to recesspdx@gmail.com.

Our show poster for our 5-Year Anniversary Event (tomorrow, in Seattle, at Chop Suey) got Poster Of The Week at The Stranger.

What the article failed to mention is that each poster was individually blockprinted on found sheets of magazine paper; each product is 100% unique. Yeah! Here’s another sample. There’s a million more.

Interior Designer Irene Lovett matches images of interior design with music albums to create a sonic-visual mash-up of a non-projected, non-synthesized sort. Check these out for some ideas of what you might be able to do at your house!

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THE INSPIRATION:

THE RESULT:

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THE INSPIRATION:

THE RESULT:

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THE INSPIRATION:

THE RESULT:

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THE INSPIRATION:

THE RESULT:

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THE INSPIRATION:

THE RESULT:

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[Irene Lovett has contributed on projects such as The W Hollywood Residences and EVO Penthouse. A Mexico native and former resident of Salamanca, Spain, her design influences are as wide ranging as her musical tastes, and she commonly utilizes one aesthetic to produce results in the other. Accordingly, she has created vignettes reflecting the mutual inspiration of her favorite artists and her favorite designs.]

Mover and shaker Jim Denevan sees the big picture. Like a movie director, all of his works — whether they be manipulations of sand and earth or more human-oriented experimental projects — seem to share a common thread of small details benefiting a larger whole. His food project, Outstanding In The Field, features a world-wide moveable feast that takes place in rural areas and unlikely scenery.

Visit his website for notes on how he accomplishes all of his projects.

Scion Installation Five: Self-Portrait Philadelphia Preview from Scion ART on Vimeo.

Whoever is Scion’s Art Director or Head of Marketing is a genius. They always manage to sponsor extremely innovative art events to appeal to an audience that, in my book, probably wouldn’t even be the ideal Scion-purchasing candidate, but what do I know? They’re obviously still alive and kicking. Showcasing artists like AJ Fosik, Patrick Martinez, and Christina M. Felice, their show, National Art Tour Installation 5: Self Portrait, will kick off in Philadelphia on Friday, July 3rd, from 7:00pm to 11:00pm at T&P Fine Art. This diverse mixed-media show will showcase self-portraits by artists from around the country, and will end at Scion’s 4,200 square foot Los Angeles installation space. Talk about epic. All of the artwork will be auctioned off there, with proceeds going to Creative Capital, an organization that helps artists thrive through grants, workshops, and more.

Watch the video above for a good sample, or hit up Scion’s website for more information.

www.myspace.com/aaaajaaaay
www.patrickmartinez.com
www.felicephotography.com
www.creative-capital.org
www.scion.com/installation

Austin’s Hideout is an improv comedy club, concert venue, art gallery, and coffee shop all in one. A recent stint in this all-in-one haven led me to the eye-catching works of Hope Perkins, who, in this particular case, morbid curiosity and neon colors transform the taxidermied heads of animals into cleverly-named, slightly strange works of art. Truly awesome.

www.hideouttheatre.com
www.hotpinkpistol.com

Don’t be alarmed, folks! The bees aren’t really holing up in telephone booths because they’re dwindling in numbers anyway! This is just the product of California’s Bumblebee at work, turning abandoned phone booths into beautiful art installations. Here are the thought-provoking words he had to say about his work:

“Telephone companies have been abandoning their public telephone booths by taking out the phones and leaving the structures beehind. (Probably due to the rise in cell phone users.) I want to reuse these structures as a way of communication with the public once more by replacing that empty space with paper-mache beehives. To me, this symbolizes the irony beehind the question, ‘where have so many of the bees gone’ and the theory that cell phone signals have been misguiding their normal patterns of migration.”

www.flickr.com/photos/theuglyyou