Found and Lost

I unearthed this poster today, under the behemoth laundry pile that lives next to my bed.. it's from an assignment I made up for the now-defunct Spirit Jam (ladies art club). It's a great parlor game! Everyone writes down various adjectives and nouns (colors, animals, objects, etc.) on scraps of paper and tosses them into a bowl. Each participant then blindly picks out a few.. this becomes your 'Band'. Then we all make up genres of music, and toss them back into the bowl.. this becomes your Band's 'Sound'. Next we all jot down adjectives and locations (like 'snazzy' or 'jail') and this time we draw from the bowl where our Band will be Performing. Then everyone has to make a flyer for their Band's next Show. This can go on and on, for song titles, promoter's name, etc.. just another twist on a Dadaist nonsense activity:


"Blueberry Hankercheif is a fabulous New Age meditational band. Currently on tour with Jamaican rap stars Tree-Sloth Technician. Have you heard their hit song, 'The Crumb'? Oh, and they're playing tonight at the new all-ages venue The Brilliant Space Between the Left and the Right Breast."

Side note: any time the words 'New Age' are muttered, I immediately think of the Southwest and the iconic Bandana-Wearing Coyote. And rainbows.

I made the poster at my studio. I love (or loved, as it is) my studio. Its like this amazing oasis of calm in the middle of messed-up downtown los angeles. I had to move out a few weeks ago, due to the impending migration north.



Sad. If you live in L.A. and need space to make stuff, or read, or take a nap, check out the Spring Arts Tower. Its really cheap, and in an old art deco office building near the Library and MOCA and the Smell. I shared my space with Joanne, who is a rad photographer and teaches here. She was also a member of the Spirit Jam, which is ripe for a comeback in 2007.

Now I'm trying to paint at home, but it is incredibly difficult due to the volume of dust and dog hair in our little house, and the total lack of space. So I'm screenprinting a bit and anagramming my pets' names. Olive the Cat=Ethical Vote (weird, didn't realize she was political), Otis the Dog=Sighed Toot (he often sighs and toots when he's bored), Rosebud the Dog=Hoboes Trudged (she did wander the streets of South Central as a pup), and Ringo the Cat=Chair Gotten (he does like to usurp the computer chair). And my location, Sun Valley California=Saucy Flannel Ravioli, which is odd, because I expected something more like 'Smog Litter Doom'.

Off to buy paint!