[ABOVE] Nieves’ logo, which looks a little bit like McDonald’s Grimace — only much more well-read…

Swiss publishing house, Nieves, really knows how to make you drool over a hard-copy art book. Their latest offering is entitled Iskandariyah Skan, and features the work of Zurich-based mixed media and installation artist, Ingo Giezendanner (whose website, it should be noted, is www.grrrr.net).

Iskandariyah, is Alexandria in Arabic, and the book documents Geizendanner’s ferry trip across the Mediterranean Sea into Alexandra, Egypt. The line art images simplistically capture Geizendanner’s surroundings, illustrating organized chaos in everything from ocean waves to trees and stacks of books to car wrecks. Geizendanner uses his eye like a camera, and later distorts the images through scanning processes (see artist statement below for details).

Below, a few pages of samples from the 192-page, soft cover, offset-printed book!! YUM!

More images on Nieves’ website.

Of the product, Geizendanner says:

“My previous picture book was about a train trip to Baku, this book documents my ferry trip accross the Mediterranean Sea to Alexandria (or Iskandariyah as it is called in Arabic). I was invited to exhbit my work and conduct a workshop organized by the artist-run Alexandria Contemporary Arts Forum (ACAF). This paperback is a selection of the many drawings that transpired on this amazing journey.

Not all my drawings are of a scene that catches my eye. Often it starts with coming across a really comfortable spot where I can sit undisturbed for some time amongst the hustle and rumble of a busy city. This, for me, can be quite meditative. Later, I scan the drawings to upload onto my website and other applications.

This time round, I also experimented with the drawings and hope to present this book as my personal development or work in progress. I wish to share the overwhelming experience of drawing the ocean and have tried to capture the simultaneous static second and fluid element of the water by flushing the drawings through a scanner and allowing them to distort as they wish to flow, much like the city, much like life itself.”

If you are for some reason in Zurich this weekend, there is a book launch and signing taking place at Nieves (Ankerstrasse 20, 8004, Zurich) on Saturday, July 2nd, from 14:00 to 17:00.

Grimy, grimy, grimy! The new issue of Blood Becomes Water features work from Leah-Jade Connolly, Oliver Donnet, Rosie Eisor, Jaime Martinez (< crazy interesting website; I would recommend it), Kate Yang Nikodym, Raya Rayax, Iliyan Ruzhin, and Sam Scott Hunter. 40 digitally-printed black and white photographs with movable pages! Ace use of negative space amidst chaos!

BUY IT HERE.

Photographer Todd McLellan has a series called Disassembly, in which he pulls apart old items found on street curbs and transposes them into works of art — in a very different way. Evidently, all of the pieces were in well-working order, and it is a bit sad that what was once probably a beautiful typewriter is no longer usable, but recreation certainly is a beautiful facet of art.

You can buy a print of the above piece here.

Below, his artist statement on the topic:

In my series Disassembly, I photographed old items that are no longer used by the masses and often found on the street curbs heading for disposal. All of the pieces I photographed were in working order. I found it very interesting that they were all so well built and put together with screws, not glue. These pieces were all most likely put together by hand. I envisioned all the enjoyment these pieces had given many people for many years, all to be replaced by new technology that will itself be rapidly replaced with half the use.

Each piece in the series seems to be taken apart through different stages of life, often flying through the air in disarray, like in a slow-motion video enthusiast’s finest dreams, while others are as neatly arranged as our friend the typewriter.

Visit the “New Work” section of McLellan’s website to see more.
(And it’s highly recommended that you right click on any image and go to “Enter full screen” mode while viewing!)

Converge frontman Jacob Bannon –just– released a series of limited edition prints in his shop. Among these is a piece of art he did for Trap Them‘s Seizures In Barren Praise album.

I’ve chosen my favorite color combination from five available silkscreen prints. These are a blend of collage and illustration that show a series of bodies and forms using one robed figure as a springboard. (See the rest here.)

This silkscreened print features the finely detailed collage/illustration created for Trap Them’s classic “Seizures In Barren Praise” album. This two color screen print (including a hand mixed metallic black ink and a clear varnish) measures in at a massive 15.5″w X 38.75″h (approximated size) and is printed on a fantastic French Paper stock.

These are leftovers from the original printing, and are being taken from my own archives. They are all signed and embossed by myself.

Only 25 are being made available. Once they are gone, they are gone forever…

Lastly… also available is a limited edition giclee print of this As Pearls Before Swine piece.

A bit of short notice on this one, as this show goes on in T-minus a couple hours, for the SE neighborhood First Friday Art Walk in Portland. However it’s totally worth writing about, the most interesting part actually taking place not today, but throughout the course of the month…

Opening tonight at Golden Rule (811 E Burnside, Portland, OR 97214), from 7:00pm to 10:00pm, is Invitation To Sleep! It is a dream-themed group show! I’m really into dreams, personally (I even have my own dream blog, where I write about all my dreams and invite others to submit theirs) — so this show is exquisitely exciting for me.

A floor-to-ceiling wall-hanging from Sally England, which looks more like a 2D object than a 3D one! Cotton rope and electroluminescent wire. Yum!

Tripped out ceramics of everyday objects, by Emily Counts.

Works on paper by Amanda Luna! This particular piece is not just a print or a drawing; it’s the result of repetitive stamping, with liquid gold leaf and acrylics, and the resulting characters might be Death or Mona Lisa. Who knows?

What tickles my fancy most, though, is an interactive portion of it. Golden Rule Gallery will be transforming their showroom into a bedroom, “complete with a walk-in closet full of lingerie, lounge wear, and other cozy clothing for cold February days.” It will also have a bed, of course, and if my greatest fantasies come true, a onesie, with footies, in my size. They will be inviting strangers, such as possibly yourselves, to spend an evening in the gallery. Those who do so will be invited to record their dreams, and filmmaker Alexis Powell will make stop-motion animated dream sequences to people’s dreams.

Visit the gallery tonight to sign up, or email the gallery. You can bet I will be participating. This is kiiiiiiiind of my dream come true. (Pun honestly not intended — that was the first phrase that came to mind.)

Head down to the Pioneer Place Mall in Portland, Oregon this Sunday, January 30th, from 1:00pm to 6:00pm! Trade Gallery — in conjunction with The Aspens and Recess Gallery — for a closing show with interdisciplinary performances, music, interaction, and crafts.

The goal? DIFFUSION OF PERFORMER/VIEWER HEIRARCHY! Everything must go, and everyone must get involved!!

J.P. Huckins will take on live video recording as performance. With several video stations, he will subvert the spectator and recorder dynamic. This reversal will include live video feed along with otherless immediate methods of “viewing the viewer.”

Vivian Hua‘s “Temporary Sight Removal” workshop will allow audience members to participate in tours of the other four senses. While sight-removed, attendees will have the option to heighten their sense of touch by reading Braille literature, while the text is translated to them verbally; they’ll be able to experience smell with a guided tour of the Body Shop, along with a host of other possiblities. See the complete list of activities here.

Dani Cardia‘s “Page Turning” allows attendees to the exhibition to move through the video narrative by turning the pages of an empty book. Employing electronics and mild computer technology, an interaction with the objects articulates the imaginative expectations we may hold for common-placed accessories (a primary colored stocking cap, a sketchbook, a video camera). The combination of real-time reaction with simple familiar gestures is an attempt to explore the hopes we may harbor for a more engagingly mundane experience.

Experimental/Performative Catering, via “Performativity Parlour” and “Synonym Buns,” will be provided by Tori Abernathy, the show’s curator.

Others are welcome to contribute.

LIVE MUSICAL PERFORMANCES:
Matt & Matt at 4:00
and Salam at 5:00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBX_6asTByM

ART OBJECTS FOR SALE BY:
Kat Seale with handmade metal jewelry
Delphine Bedient – with hand-printed cards and zines.
Jamie Edwards with Limousine Shrinky-Dink Jewelry
Andrew Barton and Aria Mikkola-Sears with distribution from Open Face Records

All this will accompany the existing installations as part of The Aspens Project at Trade.