Fort Point Summer Show, Solitary Elevator Hopping & Dr. Worm

About 4:40 today I took a break and went downstairs to get my mail. The packet was back from my submission for the FPAC Gallery Summer Show (see the June 1st http://617midway.blogspot.com/2007/06/submissions-influences-and-submission.html for the entry on prepping the materials).

I opened the envelope in the elevator wondering if they had even sent along a note, or if they were just returning my CD of images. “Maybe they will encourage me to apply again,” I hoped. Happily surprised to find an envelope with my name on it inside the package, I opened it up.

The first word of the letter? “Congratulations!”

Excited” probably isn’t the right word. I actually think I hopped up and down in the elevator. Jackson Pollock had his drunken tirades, de Kooning his long walks in Manhattan…. me? I jump up and down in elevators.

On a side note, some of my buddies at Syracuse used to do their best to jump up and down in the elevator until it got a little dislodged and got stuck between floors. They were a lot of fun.

But, back to the show— it is a 3-person show at the FPAC Gallery in Boston and it will be held from July 20 to August 17, with an opening reception on Friday, July 27th from 5 – 9 pm.

I really can’t believe it— I waited for the gallery representatives to knock on my door all evening and say “oops, we sent you the wrong letter.” But, thankfully, it has been quiet here at 617 Midway.

This Summer Show will be my first time in a show like this, and I am honored they chose me, and think it will be a great venue for some of these new pieces.

Earlier in the day I confirmed that I will be participating in another 3-person show at the Gulu-Gulu Café (http://www.gulu-gulu.com) in Lynn for October through December. Their owner attended this year’s Art Walk and contacted me about participating a little while back. Needless to say, it has been a very exciting day around here.

As for Dr. Worm? Well, I had been planning to get The Giants on here anyhow, but with today’s news, it seemed a little more timely. I had planned on seeing them in Wellfleet in July— July 27th to be exact, which just happens to be the opening of the FPAC Show. Alas, I will have to make do without the hopes of catching “Dr. Worm” live again.

They have this new video out called “Venue Songs” that you can catch pieces of on YouTube (or, for you more ethically minded, you can buy it on their website)… it is pure TMBG mad genius, and is amazing.

And as for Dr. Worm, it is definitely one of my favorites by them. The song always makes me think of the famous physicist/mathematician/all-around amazing man, Dr. Richard Feynman. He played the drums, and was a bizarre enough guy to make me think of a connection with TMBG. The pic above is from Wikipedia.

Martin Cockroft and I did a reading together at the University of Montana where Martin made an announcement using a picture of Feynman in front of a chalkboard with the words “Poetry Experiment” under it. The pic of Feynman made him look like Gary Sinise— at least I thought so. But, our announcement sharing a piece of paper with one of the people who helped create the Atomic Bomb was a little creepy and great at the same time.

A good book on Feynman is “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!” There are some great stories in there.

But, back to the talk of the day— there will be more info to come on the FPAC Gallery show— should be really wonderful. Hope to see you all there.