Just got back from the inspirational assault known as Creative Capital retreat. A complete feast of art and ideas. The retreat combines professional development, idea exchange, professional consultations, skill building, networking, dinner parties and very little sleep. All of which adds up to some kind of incredible mind blow. My survival tactic was to wake up extra early (despite late nights) to get to the gym and run a whole lot. One of the features of the week is a day and a half of artist presentations. So not only did I get to see those, but I also had a chance to get to know the artists behind the work. There were some stand outs (in a crowd of mostly excellent work). A quick run down of my favorites:

SuttonBeresCuller- a wonderfully diverse and prolific trio from Seattle. The team’s project is to convert an unused gas station into ‘Mini Mart City Park’. They will transform the space into a lively green space complete with educational aspects. The SuttonBeresCuller body of work includes performative work (stage makeup as old men to get into the zoo free, stranding themselves on their own man-made island), massive time based installations (erecting a large box inside a gallery and then building a chinese restaurant inside it, which was revealed after 3 weeks of work). The work is a witty examination of our cultural consumption both within and without the ‘arts industrial complex’. They haven’t shown outside of Seattle, but that won’t be true for long now that they are in the hands of Creative Capital.

Matthew Moore- a farmer/artist who is self identified as conflicted as to which moniker to put first. His work (both artistic and professional) asks us to examine the relationship we have with food - both as individuals and as a cultural nation. He has a project on local farms that he plans to put in grocery stores around the country.

Brad Lichtenstein - his project is Quest for the Commons witn DJ Spooky. The project will manifest as a trans-media experience,with film, online, re-mixes and widgets. He is exploring what the commons are in an age that is simultaneously more privatized and more open sourced.

Finally, and most immediate, is the film Trouble the Water. Tip documentary film, by the team Tia Lessin and Carl Deal is built around the story and good video footage me two Katrina refugees/survivors. It lays bare the atrocities which were committed (and continue to occur’) in New Orleans. The film is premiering August 22 at IFC. This is a must see for anyone.

There were a number of other notable works shared over the week - I will try to pull together a list of them to share with you in the coming week. Lots of other things to talk about too!

We (the internet team of Steve, Matthew, Chris and I - we were missing Sue and Daniel) also had a chance to present some me our material which was really well recieved and enthusiastically sought. Like I said, it was a pretty amazing week.

Another moment of brilliance…

Chris Doyle has done it again. I know I talk about him a lot on this blog, much to his chagrin, but he’s done it again with some pretty clever thinking. This time its a self marketing idea that is simple, beautiful, brilliant and I hope (for his sake) succesful.
Chris created a limited addition set of drawings called Subscribe. They are some of his personal but not too precious drawings of suburban homes. And they are for sale. (That’s not the clever part, tip is:) Each sale benefits one of a handful of non profits that he has chosen, like Creative Capital, Creative Time, Public Art Fund, Smack Mellon and Socrates Sculpture Park. Why is that so brilliant? Because each of those organizations (and their huge mailing lists) is going to promote the work too!

So everybody wins, the organization and the artist.

I will post images of the work and links soon (writing this from the phone). And if there are some left, go buy one!