30 Days in April: Day 30
For the thirtieth day of my project, I was tossing around a few ideas, but nothing really felt right until Erin sarted suggesting a list of 30...somethings. She was suggesting funny things, kind of as a joke, but I liked this idea. A lot of the work that's important to me influences the work that I am doing, and I like spreading the word about folks because some stuff is just freaking cool. For me, it's never about being a snob or knowing more than other people, it's about sharing the art that really gets to me. The dude who runs Hype Machine describes himself with ths bio: "I wake up in the morning to get people excited about music." Would that we could all be so lucky. Anyway, I give you (with links when I have time to add them):
THIRTY ARTISTS THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO ME
in no particular order
01. Jenny Holzer
02. On Kawara
03. Steve Almond
04. Chuck Klosterman
05. Amanda Petrusich
06. Donald Judd
07. Carl Andre
08. Dan Flavin
09. Bruce Nauman
10. David Horowitz
11. Miranda July (esp. her stories, and this)
12. Mierle Laderman Ukeles, (specifically, Handshake Ritual)
13. John Cage (esp. Lecture on Nothing)
14. Phillip Glass
15. Laurie Anderson
16. Christo and Jeanne-Claude
17. Kerry James Marshall (esp. this painting)
18. Matthew Barney
19. Andrea Zittel
20. Superamas
21. Walter De Maria
22. The Neo-Futurists
23. The San Francisco Mime Troupe
24. David Horvitz
25. Jeff Tweedy
26. Dick Higgins
27. Vito Acconci
28. Robert Rauschenberg
29. Barbara Kruger
30. Mike Daisey
There are more! There have to be more. If you know me well, you probably know people that I would have wanted to include better than I do! These are the ones that came to mind with the assistance of just a few books and references. There's so much more out there, and I didn't include Eddie, Ben, Nicole, or any of the other artists that I actualy know in real life, in my life. Feel free to leave comments with great artists that I left out.
Thanks for coming along this journey with me. I plan that there will be more to come around here.
30 Days in April:Day 28
Yesterday, PICA put out their schedule for next year, and the thought of another TBA Festival has been bouncing around my head since then.
The first impression I had was that I didn't see any names that I recognized. I was hoping that they'd bring back Mike Daisey, of course (I did call him the darling of the festival last year, and he mentioned trying to do a 24 hour performance--something that I'd love to see), but also, it's pretty unusual that they don't have any repeats.* When you add the popularity of Superamas and the Reggie Watts fest of last year, I'd have expected at least one of those three artists to be back. Who knows how busy any of those artists are, but I' recalling the back-to-back years that Nature Theatre spent here as an example.
There have only been a few performers (most notably, Laurie Anderson) that I have known before hearing about them in conjunction with this festival, and this year continues that pattern. A quick scan of the lineup and I'm already excited about seeing Erik Friedlander (I'm hoping he'll collaborate with the Portland Cello Project at the Works), the Back to Back Theatre piece sounds intriguing, and another piece has...vampires? Pan Pan Theatre's production, looking at living life publicly online, hits home for obvious reasons as well.
At any rate, after stepping up my volunteering for two years, and then becoming a blogger last year, I'm really thinking about taking the week off and getting a (non press) pass this year. I want to be able to attend the late night stuff as well as the regular shows, and really, I have told multiple people that if I ever move away from Portland, the TBA would keep me visiting annually. I'd still like to blog, but it also looks like it might be time to take the plunge and grab an audience pass.
*Granted, I'm basing this one what I've seen and remember. No fact-checking here! There are TBA alums, but none that rang a bell for me.
30 Days in April: Day 27
Goals:
--Make something in Garageband
--Make it quickly
--Get to bed on time
Success: achieved!
[audio:Piano-Quickie.mp3]