Lily McElroy throws herself at men and she is not shy about her leaping! Lily photographs herself flying through the air with impressive force and one imagines that from time to time she must end up tackling the men she hurls herself towards. On her website she describes these photographs as an exploration of an overused phrase and gesture: “Through these performances I attempt to develop authentic ties, to give the cliche new and personal meaning.”

Get out and enjoy the sun, Seattlites. Check out this interesting interactive performance taking place downtown at Occidental Square Park today from 11:00am to 1:30pm and 4:30pm to 7:30pm. New York’s City Mediation Crew will be doing their typical tasks slowly and deliberately, to encourage thought.

From the press release:

Clad in white coveralls emblazoned with the orange “slow moving vehicle” triangle and wide-brimmed hats, CMC workers are recognizable as they walk slowly and collect silver foil gum wrappers and affix them to the sidewalk in the heart of Occidental Square Park to create a radiant, silver mosaic circle. CMC workers will loan video cameras to the public to create “contemplative videos” for exhibition on a video exhibition and exchange website. The anonymous members of the crew include those who consider themselves “Artists”, as well as those who donʼt.

Presented by Artsparks 2010, a partnership among Seattle Parks and Recreation, 4Culture Site Specific, and the Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs. CMC is supported by, Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts. Contemplative videos are supported by an Enitiative Grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Syracuse University School of Information Studies.

Works That Disturb is an exhibition that continues through March 27th, 2010 at the Alphonse Berber in Berkeley, California. It certainly features some disturbing, wonderful things.

Annie McKnight’s Untitled features bracelets made of… taxidermied mice.

“Kim Ye’s living sculptures connect artist and model, work and world in a collaborative act of animation. Crafted of silk, nylon, latex, wire and wood, Ye’s costume-like constructions appear in two incarnations during the exhibition. At the opening reception, live models step into the sculptures and confront spectators as artifacts from a post-human game of Pygmalion and Galatea. Afterward, like so many snake-skins, the works are displayed without their human centers - a metamorphosis that leaves them “unpeopled” and alterior. Like Yves Klein’s anthropometries or the plaster ghosts of Pompeii’s last inhabitants, Ye’s constructions effect an anthropomorphic apophasis; they invoke the human body only to affirm its impermanence.” - Alphonse Berber Press Release

Other works include Angie Crabtree’s Crucified Comfort, which shows Jesus with um, his penis out, and photographs on death and dying.

One of Seattle’s newest galleries, Flatcolor Gallery, will be holding a monthly drawing event entitled Drum of the Draw, starting Saturday, August 22nd, from 5:00pm to 8:00pm.

Drum of the Draw will be a live drawing event that brings artists into a public forum where passerbyers can witness works of art from beginning to end.

August’s event features well-known local artists like Joe McSween (2H), Warren Dykeman, Robert Hardgrave, Amy Huddleston, Sean Hurley, Jesse LeDoux, Parskid, Darin Shuler.

The event is the conception of artist Robert Hardgrave, who saw it as an idea to create an intimate art event that bridges the relationship between artists and the community. “I have always enjoyed watching others draw. This sort of event allows folks to take a peek at the creative process, something which is normally inaccessible.” says Hardgrave.

Drawings created during the event will be for sale from 8:00pm to 9:00pm, with low prices ranging from $40 to $200. It will truly be an event that tears down the walls and brings artists face-to-face with a curious community.

www.flatcolor.com
www.flatcolor.com/draw/
www.myspace.com/2hatred
www.warrendykeman.com
www.farmerbobsfarm.com
www.amyhuddleston.com
www.myspace.com/seanedwardhurley
www.ledouxville.com
www.parskid.com
www.darinshuler.com

Tuesday, August 11th, Seattle artists D.K. Pan, NKO, and Holly Brown will be undergoing a 24-hour project that merges art with the literature of famed Japanese writer, Haruki Murakami. The performance / reading of Murakami’s A Wild Sheep Chase will unfold as one pens the exterior of a box truck, another types the text on an endless scroll of paper, and the third reads the novel atop the truck. The reading begins at 11:00am and will continue through the night, until morning.

An overnight event sponsored by Seattle’s ArtsParks program, the performance will be a test of endurance and dedication. Five Murakami-related site-specific performances have been slated to run from June through October, with the following artists and art organizations conducting them: Doug Jeck, dk pan / nko rey, 826 Seattle, Steve and Katie Messick with Orchestra Seattle, and Gina Coffman with Seth Damm and Kristin Ougendal.

We wrote about the Free Sheep Foundation months ago, but their music and art combining antics just keep getting more frequent, more relevant, and more unpredictable.

Here’s what their upcoming October calendar looks like… just to give you a wee little taste of what is to come (not to mention the October 1 and 2 events that have already passed).

OCT 3 - GUTTER DANDY GALA, 9PM - 2AM, $5-$10 SUGGESTED
(Girl punk bands and window installations!)
MUSIC: Orkestar Zirconium, Hot Grits!, Scratchmaster Joe, motrecraft
ART INSTALLATIONS: Garek Druss, Static Invasion, scntfc, NKO, No Touching Ground, dk pan, Karn Junkinsmith, Wen Marcoux

OCT 10 - GALLERY OPENING, FT. FORT
(Video projections, new window installations, and a blanket/chair/sofa fort!!!)
ART INSTALLATIONS: Gretchen Bennet, Laura Corsiglia, Sirkullay, Mark Johnson
VIDEO: Mike Min

OCT 10 & 11 - SILVERING PATH
(3 dance/visual/art collabos, featuring… way too much stuff…)
MUSIC: Jeffrey Huston, Joshua Kohl
DANCE: Haruko Nishimura (Degenerate Art Ensemble)
ART/SCULPTURE: Mandy Greer, Colin Ernst
FILM: Ian Lucero
DRESS: Anna Lange

Just one amazing crochet sculpture piece by Mandy Greer!

* BRAIN EXPLOSION *
Be there or be square. These are some exciting times in the Seattle arts scenes.

In this day and age, positive words aren’t said enough, and sometimes, a phrase as simple as “You are beautiful” can usher forth a simple, but uplifting message. Apparently, the individuals behind the You Are Beautiful project know this. Using nearly any medium and art style you can think of, You Are Beautiful surpasses general street art by collaborating with artists on extensive installations displayed in store windows, on billboards, and on the sides of buildings.

www.you-are-beautiful.com

Any fan of video games who doesn’t know what Space Invaders is should be ashamed of himself or herself. But nowadays, it’s more than just a video game. It’s an art movement inspired by the video game.

The idea is nothing new, but the following is large enough to warrant it a mention. The Space Invaders movement involves nothing more than your average street art mentality. With a combination of stickers, signs, spraypaint, and urban landscapes, supporters of Space Invaders spread the image anonymously, and illegally, in any way they can.

First started in France, the invasion has now spread across the world. You can see remnants of Space Invader paraphenelia in Tokyo, Rotterdam, Paris, Istanbul, and Bangkok. It seems the only participants of this movements within the United States are located where you’d most expect them: in Los Angeles and New York.

www.space-invaders.com