It was mid moment- before dinner after dinner between dinner. There were many in the studio that night, among the work, the bikes, and the words.
He had seen both shows with his wife Karen in the winter. And now things were smeared with red, Orlando had just happened, the structures were messy.
Roots gravitate to each other.
#PaulMcCarthy #Orlando
I had to listen hard, because I had just met her. Words are fleeting. Yesterday it was Rosy Keyes. We discussed the work as porous enough to let in things- and yet closed enough to endure. Yes I think so. #rosykeyser
My collaborator on past non-profit work suggested she make boxes for the Napkin Ring Project. As I rode away on my bike, after she off-handedly mentioned the idea, I was struck. Again.
What a gift this woman is.
Here is the beginnings. A day of play, gelatin plates and exploration. Get this... she is making prints from the rings to cover the boxes. Beautiful boxes. More to come. I am so excited.
Yet again, I bow to the amazing Tricia Harding.
#thenapkinringproject #progress #queenofartwalla #galleryone
Yesterday, I took myself photographing through the Palouse on a back way home. Thanks to some very loud Liz Phair and open roads, the evening was quiet delightful. Here, with the sky, the dirt, and light, I am.
It is an honor to have a client buy my work to then donate. This is empowering. The hard work done is celebrated, paid for, and then celebrated some more. Thank you Chandra Hall And Dr. Chris Hall.
No Time To Stop. 2016
The in between. 2016
What do you know. 2016
Quiet is... 2016
Be You. 2016
Walk and See. 2016
The Spot. 2016
Silent to See. 2016
This past week I made my first Futa-oki to honor the visiting a Master of the Tea Ceremony.
Yabe Keishu - sensei was visiting the garden to prepare for her Ikebana demonstration at the Foundry Vineyards in honor of the Walla Walla Mokuhanga Center's first week of workshops.
Yabe Keishu - sensei is also a master of the "Sōgetsu, 20th-century Japanese school of floral art that introduced the zen’ei (“avant-garde”) ikebana style in which freedom of expression is preeminent." (This explanation was stolen from the FV press.)
Sensei, with the help of the wonderful Hitomie Johnson, gave instructions on how to alter my napkin rings into a tea ceremonial object that holds the lid of the tea pot.
Here is the Futa-oki I made for Hitomi and her tea . Of course, the messages inside are for their owners, you will have to attend their tea ceremony to see them.
So communication has been reopened.
Send word from the Correspondence page in the menu.
On Insta-gram: augusta_sparks
Social Art Practice: The Napkin Ring Project
Begun as a means to bring intention to the table and to the work involved to make a meal, this project focuses on the function an art object can serve in the daily ritual.
Napkin rings as art, remind us to stop our work, sit in our seat and assess that which lays before us. In response to, Lunch at the shop, by Peter Miller, where he employees paper napkins, and moving past the common place setting, consider the napkin ring’s role. The space between creating a meal and consuming the meal, the ring stands to separate these two practices. Holding the continued conversation from one meal to the next, the napkin ring marks the beginning of what Peter Miller calls for as, “the time to relax, savor, and commune.”
History implies that hygiene was the original reason for their invention. As a young mother with the endless laundry of cloth napkins, this is what spurred my use. As society embraced their use, materials expressed wealth. As a child, I held a silver ring. This, a perfectly contained object of art, symbolizing a life in British occupied Japan. Alternatively, contemporary table settings are presented in duplication. Sameness rules. As my family grows and art reigns in our home, our rings hold forth as a tool. I humbly submit the idea that they are each activated objects, reminding us to be present. A ceremonial object within a society that is progressively loosing its connection to the ritual of interacting face to face.
Simplified, I paint on each copper ring as a resist. The exterior is etched into relief. The interior is etched with a secret, verbal message in response to the exterior painting. The copper holds the hand’s warm and gives texture to touch. The table is unified in its color, and each place is identifies a separate person.
My proposal is three fold.
First, to show the rings in a space that I have altered with a massive wall drawing made in response to a gallery space. To set the stage for the dinner and an opening to inspect the idea.
Second - The Curated Potluck.
In anticipation of each meal, 12 participants would be given a serving bowl and a drink vessel to bring their contribution to the meal. Removing labeling and constructs, the food and drink would be equally presented, and placed family style on the table. The guest list would be curated. The table would be long and set by the artist. The RSVP process would enable the invited to pick their napkin ring out online prior to attending. The interior message will be with held until arrival. The ring will be theirs to use that evening.
Beginning with a giving of thanks in honor of art and the future, and a reference to their choice of ring, the dinner would commence. Unfurling the idea, potentially each participant could submit a name to attend the next curated potluck.
Third, documenting through out the dinner process. I will take a series of participant portraits. Have already started to collect stories from the table, and to recognize the differential that this anchor creates in home life. Attendees will be encouraged to write a response, these will be published with the portraits taken.
Exploration in activating a dynamic interaction between groups, using systems that society has in place to continue the conversation by redefining the function an art object can serve in the daily ritual.
Thank you to the StorefrontLab of San Francisco, due to your request for submissions I flushed out the first formula for The Napkin Ring Project as a performance! #storefrontlab
In response to, Lunch at the Shop by Peter Miller, and moving past a place setter. The space between creating a meal and consuming the meal, the napkin ring stands to separate these two practices. Holding the continued conversation from one meal to the next, the napkin ring marks "the time to relax, savor, and commune."
#petermillerbooks
Plants have attitudes, too you know.
I collect them in short hand.
They prefer shapes and colors to your words
I have this discussion they have been having.
I'm here to tell you the outcome.
It wasn't a group decision.
The forest has more to say on the topic.
I have begun to build canvases that bend and shift with the drawing, instead of the drawing bending and shifting with the architecture.
Past her debut.
The common bush is still tied
alone
to the fence. With a
blue tie down ratchet strap
that was on sale for $7.99.
Binding her
to show her
white round snowballs.
The water hides our hands
as we cut and pull.
The plants wave in exultation.
We come under the cloak of pleasure
and rain.
Geez. Where did they go? I have decided to pull them back into my lair. They will make apperances here within the writings formally know as amusing musings. Parsing out my thoughts, as paintings, as words, as insight.
