Reading Announcement: Wednesday July 25th, Fort Point Theater Channel's Reading Event

The date and time for the Fort Point Theater Channel's Reading Event has been confirmed.

The event will take place at Studio Soto which is located at 63 Melcher Street in Boston and is scheduled for 7:30 PM on Wednesday, July 25th.

For more information on Studio Soto please visit http://www.studiosoto.com/

The image above is borrowed from their homepage.

I will be reading from the chapbook Love is Give and Take alongside:

Karen Rosenberg

Amy Grunder

Robert Boulrice

Michele Corkery

Cynthia Bargar

Silvia Graziano

It will be a great evening combining prose, plays and poetry from some very gifted writers. Hope you can all make it.

Model Consumer: Conceptual Multi-Impressionism?

The response for the Model Consumer idea has been great— have gotten lots of interesting replies from around the U.S. and a few other countries. Of course, almost everyone is like… what are you up to? Eidsvig, have you developed some strange dressing room fetish?

Sadly, no.

The only pseudo-fetish that I can even come close to pinpointing is my love of girls on roller skates/rollerblades. It is strange. I think it may come from the lead-in to Three’s Company where Jack ogles some ladies and falls over on his bike.

But anyhow. Back to the ideas behind Model Consumer.

As I thought about it at the beach the idea seemed to be a combination like Conceptual Multi-Impressionism. Here goes:

Sol Lewitt, who died in April, was one of the major conceptual artists I studied. I don’t remember where I saw the line drawing that was people over and over again trying to draw a straight line with chalk pieces— which of course resulted in a curvier and curvier line (kind of like the visual version of the game “telephone”— but this combination of people carrying out a task and a work getting their energy embedded in it has fascinated me.

The picture above is from the New York Times review of Lewitt’s retrospective at the Whitney (http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/08/arts/08KIMM.html?ex=1183435200&en=76a979421c69e720&ei=5070).

One of the thrills of my life was walking into Paul Tucker’s office at UMASS/Boston for a talk and seeing this huge wooden box with a return address “Lewitt.” During our talk I asked… “that isn’t Sol Lewitt?” and Professor Tucker laughed, opened the box, and showed me this scale model Lewitt had provided of a sculpture for the UMASS sculpture park. I felt like I got to peek behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz. It was incredible.

Lewitt is everywhere— most all contemporary collections have at least one of his pieces. Some are great, some not so much. But the idea of conceptual art— that is, the artist creating the concept while others execute, works wonderfully at times in his art.

Next— I’ve talked before about Monet and Impressionism. How a lot of my ideas about art return here over and over. How to capture truth in a painting that has been radically changed by photography— and this idea of the personal filter we all have being intimate and necessary and maybe more “real” through paint than the stillness of a photo…

Add to this my experience with DigArts— the project I did for Artists for Humanity at the Roxy in Boston in 2005, and the idea of a piece being constructed by many different viewpoints has started more and more to intrigue me. The night at the Roxy I took photos of people at the club, had them fill out surveys, leave lipstick marks on paper, etc.— and assembled all of this into a huge collage that was a combination of many different viewpoints in one moment. Afterwards I started to think of “happenings” connected by internet where people constructed different art works at locations around the world and fused them into a single piece via a huge monitor. Like a big quilt where many different quilters get assigned a square— or LiveAid, via visual art, and without Bono.

The pic above is from the Artists for Humanity event.

In my recent work I have been using images to make up other images (jet planes, comic books, scratch tickets, etc to make up female figures)…. I thought, why not turn it around and use people’s image of themselves in consumer America (via a dressing room) and collage these images?

This was also probably fueled by my trip to Old Navy (http://617midway.blogspot.com/2007/05/old-navy-no-to-paparazzi.html) where I was told by a woman working there that I couldn’t take photos. I guess it adds some intensity to have people all over the place in stores taking pictures in the dressing rooms after the people told me I couldn’t take pictures in their store.

As for the actual images themselves— I’m not saying a word. Integral to the piece, or series of pieces, is people being free to be as creative and honest as they can with their individual works. This is why I limited the entry to one image— it forces people to think about exactly one picture they can stand behind.

Which is what art is all about.

Maybe.

Thank you all for your responses… and good luck.

Where Have I Been? Where Have YOU Been? & Upcoming Reading

Where have I been? Westport. Thanks for asking. Yes, even artists get a break from the studio now and again. In fact, I keep seeing these artist's documentaries where the artist says "well, time to go to the studio" and gets up and walks to a different building. Must be nice. Here at 617 Midway the paintings stare at me all the time. "Why are you sitting down when you could be painting?"

They often talk in a Irish brogue.

Anyhow, the pic above is from beautiful Baker's Beach in Westport, MA. Of course, being a poet with semi-delusional visions of grandeur I always think of Frank O'Hara when I go to the beach in the summer- and make sure to watch out for dune buggies (for you non-O'Hara fans, you will need to look up the dune buggy reference).

It also makes me think of Alfred Leslie's "Killing Cycle" recently- which I can't find a decent image of anywhere.

In other news, looks like I will be participating in a group reading in July. Most likely the event will be held at Studio Soto in Fort Point on Wednesday, July 25th.

Readers will be:

Karen Rosenberg - play

Amy Grunder - fiction

Robert Boulrice - play

Michele Corkery - short story

Cynthia Bargar - poetry

Silvia Graziano - poetry

and me (poetry)

I will post more definite information when I have it.

Model Consumer Photo Contest

$300 PRIZE FOR WINNING ENTRY
Sponsored by http://www.kurtcoleeidsvig.com/

Artist Kurt Cole Eidsvig and KurtColeEidsvig.com are sponsoring a photo contest open to photographers/models 18+ with selected photos to be included in a large-scale collage piece and other artworks— with a $300 prize for the winning entry.

The Model Consumer Photo Contest seeks photographs of entrant’s reflection taken in the mirror of a dressing room of a store.

Open To: Anyone 18 and over

Entry Fee: None

Contest Length: June 25th, 2007— August 24th, 2007 (entries must be received by midnight).

Format: Entries must be digital photos submitted electronically as an email attachment and include the name of the entrant, date of the photo, store name, and location taken.

Submission: Contest entries must include the words “Model Consumer Contest Entry” in the subject box of an email addressed to KurtColeEidsvig@yahoo.com.

In addition, each email must include the following pasted into the message:

This email and entry signify that I have read and agree to all of the contest rules and regulations for the Model Consumer Photo Contest. I grant Kurt Cole Eidsvig and KurtColeEidsvig.com full permissions and rights for the use of the attached photograph.

Judging Criteria: Photos will be judged on creativity and overall image quality.

Disqualification: Any entry that does not fall into the appropriate guidelines of format, content, and submission will be automatically disqualified.

Notification: All entrants will be notified via the website 617Midway.Blogspot.com no later than September 30, 2007. Winning entry will be contacted via submission email address to obtain mailing information for prize delivery.

Official Contest Rules and Regulations:

1. Limit of one entry (one single image) per person.
2. All entries and contest materials received become property of Kurt Cole Eidsvig and KurtColeEidsvig.com and will not be returned.
3. To be considered in the contest all submissions must be original, unpublished photographs taken of the photographer’s reflection in the mirror of a store’s dressing room. Each image must be accompanied by the name of the entrant/model, date taken, store name & location.
4. By submitting an entry to the contest, the contestant grants Kurt Cole Eidsvig and KurtColeEidsvig.com the unrestricted and exclusive rights to use photograph(s) for any purpose. This includes, but is not limited to, publishing your photograph(s) in any print or electronic form for promotional purposes without further compensation, and the right to use the photographer’s name as a credit along with the photograph. The photographer must own all rights to any photographs entered in this contest. It is the responsibility of the contestant to ensure that publication of the photographs raises no legal claims. Accordingly, you hereby agree to compensate Kurt Cole Eidsvig and KurtColeEidsvig.com fully regarding any claims arising out of the use of your photograph(s). Photograph(s) previously published in full or in part in other publications, contests, etc., will be disqualified.
5. Only the photographer (which must also be the model in the case of this contest) has the right to submit a photograph.
6. By participating, entrants agree that these rules and the decisions of Kurt Cole Eidsvig and KurtColeEidsvig.com shall be final in all respects.
7. Entrants grant Kurt Cole Eidsvig and KurtColeEidsvig.com the right to use his or her name, likeness, portrait, picture, photo, entry form content and/or prize information for any purpose.
8 Entrants agrees to hold harmless and release Kurt Cole Eidsvig and KurtColeEidvsig.com from any injuries, losses or damages of any kind that (a) may result from taking a photo intended to be submitted, or (b) may result from submission and consequent publication on of any photo entered into the contest.
9. Entrant agrees that prize will be selected at the sole discretion of Kurt Cole Eidsvig.
10. Kurt Cole Eidsvig and KurtColeEidsvig.com are not responsible for late, lost or misdirected entries or email; for technical, hardware or software malfunctions, lost or unavailable network connections, or failed, incorrect, inaccurate, incomplete, garbled or delayed electronic communications, whether caused by the sender or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in this promotion, or by any human error that may occur in the processing of entries; or for loss of or damage to any entries.

Water as Metaphor & A Dear John to Poetry

I'd been working on this poem again just last week that I read at the last Southie Slam- a sort of Dear John to poetry, some of it poking fun at the same themes that recur in my work over and over again, one of which is metaphors about water:

Dear Poetry:

I can’t write poems anymore. It’s over. This is my
Dear John to poetry; my retirement party. I
was just visiting anyway— once Spicer and O’Hara
left the party just kind of dwindled.
Sure, Alexie may have rekindled
the fire, but the kind of tears-in-your-eyes
elegies to every day and moment was gone
at the bottom of the last bottle of brandy. Forget about me—
burn these notes like those fingertips and piano keys
are matches and flint, the glint of light on white
ivory being so many dominoes on a rickety
table. I miss you, Poetry. Por favor leave my belongings
at the door.

I’d like Flathead Lake back— please return it to me
in empty-milk-gallon installments; if you use Bacardi
bottles or old plastic jugs of Cossack vodka I may be
tempted in the night, during my third trip to the bathroom
to swill down a gulp of my father’s ashes and mountain run-
off if you return it improperly. Before you even ask, I’ll
rescind the sky. No more melodic comparisons
between paint drips or jet-plane jet-wash. No more musing on
the glittering of the ground looking like an end table
in a high-end strip club where the ice in glasses pays
too much for a lap dance from the neon lights, says
“I think she really liked me,” and then melts
and melts again. You can keep any references
to powder and pigment turning to liquid— sand
to ocean; comparisons between Rothko and the sea;
and religion— save for heroin— I have a series
planned for the roads of South Boston likened to veins
and arteries:

Dorchester Heights’ white peak; a needle— Pleasure Bay;
a spoon beneath a lighter.

Poetry, you can keep my failed attempts at drug deals; my time confined
to psych wards. No one lays claim to Picasso. If I see a woman
rollerblading, she’s mine. If I see her later in the car—
still mine. If I go to sleep and wake up and her silhouette
looks like my coffee cup— stem and all— she’s yours.

In the interest of time, the following applies:
1) I give you wars
2) True, I should relinquish blue to you, but Cockroft already laid claim to it; as has M.L. Smoker. Luckily for all of us, Picasso’s already dead.

Yes, Poetry, I know Picasso never really died.

3) I would like to keep the seagulls,
4) Rothko’s show at the Whitney;
5) Rum— you can keep.
6) My failed attempts at fiction are yours, including:
a. The man who goes cross-eyed from never lifting the toilet seat
b. Mr. Valentine’s Day
c. An essay on the new Democracy and the hopelessness of voting and the power of consumer choice

Poetry, you can have reality T.V, and self-help manuals, I’m keeping
the hair gel— pomade, mouse, and creams apply.

Poetry, you can keep my attempts at melodrama— my mining autobiography:
1) Deaths in the family
2) Confessions
3) Drunken escapades
4) Shame
5) Fear— see
a. airplane rides

Poetry, you can keep the following metaphors:
1) The ocean and the sky are lovers; the horizon is a bed; they are a Mark Rothko; they are a misunderstanding.
2) Hemingway as a metaphor for false advertising.
3) Baseball— see America.
4) Drinking as a love affair.

Poetry, girls with sunglasses and headphones walking Castle Island apply.

Poetry, you can keep the following comparisons:

Anything to:
1) de Kooning
2) Pollock
3) Rothko
4) Rosenquist
5) O’Keefe

Poetry, before we break, can you write my artist’s statement for me?


**********************************

And then I got an email forward from my friend Michelle, leading me to an article from The Onion. I guess I am not the first poet to talk about water?

In other news, it is raining at Midway today.

And, yes, the above poem is still in draft. It needs some work.

Thanks Michelle:

Author To Use Water As Metaphor

Website Update, Poems, TV Spot, Flowers & Book Review

Looks like I finally finished the website update. Given all that’s going on (and given that I wanted to do it right after ArtWalk) I’m glad that it is done to say the least. Feel like I have been really neglecting my painting lately as a result of all this design and content work— but know that it is important given all the events going on. But, the balance between the art and the business end (i.e. website design, submissions, health insurance) is something I definitely wrestle with.

At the very least, the last O’Hara update was good for me. I have embarked on a new series that seems pretty promising.

In other news. I am scheduled to appear on Boston’s BNN Channel 9 next Wednesday night (June 27th) to discuss my art and poetry— as well as upcoming events like the FPAC Summer Show and the September Southie Slam. I will be bringing along some artwork and poetry and will update more before the show.

Above, find some recent pics taken of flowers. Got a new camera a few months back and trying to do justice to some of these flowers is a great tryout. I am toying with the idea of doing a series of 12 in color to offer for sale at Open Studios in November.

Last but not least— Kim Cockroft has accepted a recent book review of mine for her website, Notes From Wazoo Farm. The review can be found here:

http://wazoofarm.blogspot.com/2007/06/contributor-book-review-mayflower-by.html

PAINT Show, O'Hara & Fire Escapes

The last few days I have been working long hours on a website update— which is certainly not the most interesting thing to photograph. So, I am including a few pics I took from my window a little while back that I came across while looking for images for the website. I think I have mentioned it before, but being on the 6th Floor of Midway is a bit like living with the seagulls, as they often swoop down in front on my windows, and every once in a while I can hear them thumping around on the roof and squawking at each other.

However, as the pictures show, the old fire escape is also a great perch for some other birds who will stop by from time to time.

Anytime I think of fire escapes, I think of Frank O’Hara (pic above of O’Hara on a fire escape is from http://www.frankohara.com/Pages/Credits.html). Not because of this picture, but because of his use of fire escapes in poems:

One of my favorite Frank O’Hara poems, (Untitled, but the first line “Dear Jap” refers to Jasper Johns) uses this:

“I want someday
to have a fire-escape

in 1951 I became crazy for fire-escapes
as you remember”

As does the poem “In Memory of my Feelings”:

“Five years ago, enamored of fire-escapes, I went to Chicago,”

There is another great one that I can’t find— but needless to say, I think of O’Hara when I think of fire escapes.

* * * * *

Yesterday I had another piece of correspondence (an email this time) that started out “Congratulations!” (yes, with an exclamation point again). This time, it was from LynnArts— their juror has selected my piece, “Precious Gems” to appear in their juried show “PAINT.”

PAINT has an opening reception on Saturday, June 23rd from 2-4pm, and the show runs from June 20th through July 27th. for more information, check out the website http://www.lynnarts.org/.

I think the last time I got this much mail with “Congratulations!” as the lead-in, it was from Publisher’s Clearing House and Mr. Ed McMahon (pic above is from wikipedia). This, of course, if much more exciting. Although, if Ed had ever come up with the moolah, it might have been a different story. I might even have one of those big-ass Happy Gilmore checks now.

All that said, I am honored to have been chosen- especially given all the extraordinary work they had submitted. There is some great stuff there, and it will allow Precious Gems to be seen in a great venue for art.

So, here at Midway I am looking forward to the PAINT show and the FPAC Gallery summer show, and getting my website prepped in the process. All while living O’Hara’s dream of owning a fire-escape.

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.