Daniel Bozhkov Monday Night Lecture

Daniel Bozhkov is a contemporary artist who does his art in public, interactive settings.  I gathered from the lecture that he is a highly educated artist and applies his academia in a particularly humanitarian manner.  He spoke of many of his past projects and left the lecture with the attendees wanting more.  In the beginning he touched on a new project he was working on inspired by refugee camps and the instant communities that are able to be sustained in emergency situations.  He seemed particularly interested in the food cart system that we have in downtown Portland.  

Bozhkov spoke of many of his past projects.  He began with his stint as an employee at Wallmart as a greeter and while he was there, painted a fresco in the customer service department.  He found the position of the "greeter" to be interesting because in his culture greeting was a natural occurrence and would be considered an odd position.  His fresco consisted of community blending with consumer products, a very interesting juxtaposition in the composition.  One of my favorites was the Larry King crop circle.  He titled his piece "Learning to Fly Over a Very Large Larry."  He recorded himself taking a helicopter piloting lesson over the crop circle he created.   I was also drawn to the project he did in Istambul.  He was there with his mother who spoke some Turkish, but old fashioned Turkish.   He also noticed the Simit stands everywhere.  Simits are a combination of a pretzel and a bagel.  He decided that he wanted to learn to make them and eventually formed them into old fashioned Turkish phrases and designed a bag for them to be distributed in.  He then went into the streets of Istambul and sold them from his own Simit stand.   

I would like to follow the works of Daniel Bozhkov to see what he does with his new projects.  

Appropriation

I appropriated some grab bags from the  $1 store.  They are of equal size and weight, same fonts.  The only differences are the color and the fact that one is a surprise for a girl and one for a boy.   

I made this as a commentary on the commodification of gender roles at early ages.   The most interesting aspect of the piece itself is the speculations viewers have of what exactly could be inside and their own ideas of gender identification.  

Appropriated Art?

The original scene from Paul Brickman's Risky Business...



The "appropriation" for Guitar Hero

Is this considered artistic appropriation?  The medium is film and the final result is an advertisement.  It may not be fine art but it is certainly a created piece of  work.  

This is a good example of appropriation, yasumasa morimura

The Street Continued...

This is my street, King Avenue.  I wanted to depict the amount of cars parked along the sides as well as the lack of traffic.  This is what the entrance to the street looks like at any given time of day.  This street begins at Burnside and proceeds up a gentle slope.  That is why the drawing is cut off.  On the right hand at the top of the drawing is the entrance to the $100/night hotel and the top left of the drawing is the entrance to the $40/night hotel, or as I had referred to it as a no-tell.  I have always found it strange, the relationship between the two establishments.  Neither one is particularly impressive, the more affordable is perhaps the least attractive of the two.  It just occurred to me that this is a bird's eye perspective.  I think it's funny because this is how I view the street from my apartment, only from the opposite direction.  

My Street

My street is a quiet one. Take a left on King going north west on Burnside. Each side of the street is lined with cars that never move. They are always parked there. There is no need to drive in this location, but for some reason the residents of this street all own vehicles. On the left is the Volvo dealership, actually the mechanic's side, the side where they smoke. The right hand side there is a vacant retail space and next to it a hair salon. The hair salon is called Frankie Page, located on the bottom floor of a six story building my friend Stephanie lives in. This side and only this block is lined with substantial trees that are always strewn with lights. My street is nicely paved, it think due to the little traffic we get. I always find it amazing how quiet my street is being right off of the main vein of the city. There is an odd house next to the Volvo dealership across from their alley. I can never tell if the giant old house is broken up into apartments or if it is one family living there. They have two dogs that never go inside. The lab barks incessantly. Across King from the big house are the Park Avenue Suites, $100 a night they also have a motel next door to the big house, The Washington Park Inn, $40 a night. This business brings in the most interesting clientele. The latter is a big of a slum. I have watched parties, drug busts and even a horror movie being filmed there, from my window in my apartment. My building, the tallest building on the street, the King Tower is located next door to the nicer hotel and across the street from the no-tell motel. Mine is a 12 story pink art deco inspired building. From the King Tower up are more Victorian style houses. The houses are large and have been broken up into office spaces and residential units. The trees around these houses are also enormous. Because of the tree's roots the sidewalk gets a little tricky. Each slab is a different height than the others and are angled every which way as sidewalks often do to compensate for the tree's roots. There is dog shit everywhere. This is the part of the street where you really have to watch your step, you could trip or mess up your shoes. There is an awful intersection the farther you go up the hill. It makes an S curve and there is no real way to see if traffic is coming, you have to run for it if you are a pedestrian or put the pedal to the metal if you are a motorist in order to cross safely. Once you pass the dangerous intersection the houses become even larger and more estate like. The landscaping is finely manicured and the sidewalks impeccably clean. There is a design studio, I think for interior design, but I'm not quite sure. The houses on these final two blocks are beautiful but you never see who lives in them, only the landscapers and the hired help coming and going on their daily errands.

I like this

Galerie Yvon Lambert
108, rue Vielle du Temple, 75003 Paris Tel: 33 142 710933
E-mail: paris@yvon-lambert.com www.yvon-lambert.com

Be Black Baby Parts 1&2

These clips are from the movie "Hi Mom!" 

Same Caption 3 Images

Sometimes she does it for the material gain, sometimes for the thrills.

                            - Guerrilla Girls, Bitches, Bimbos and Ballbreakers, pg. 20

               

Speedo Lincoln

A few months after I moved to Portland in 2001, a homeless man handed me this bust of Lincoln.  The mini speedo was a free-bee at the counter at the store H&M.  I had no clue what to do with either item, so.... here it is. 

First day of class

first day of class, first blog!  Woo Hoo!