The first ec/bc (extracurricular bookclub) took place today.

ec/bc began last year as a place to workshop ideas, not objects. The group has met regularly, usually once a month, to discuss various articles, and lately, podcasts on topics that we are interested in.

Today, we discussed Sven Lutticken’s Attending to Abstract Things, a theory of an abstract and dematerialized culture. Drawing a line between economic and cultural trends and art movements. A very interesting article. It got us talking about a whole variety of things – marxism, art as the ultimate commodity, the experience economy, historical and biological determinism, pooping in parking lots and too much empathy. 

It’s good to be back in ec/bc.

On Monday Night, Zach Springer gave a presentation about home foreclosures and affordable housing. Last year in Miami, a developer named Raul Masvidal was charged with spending public housing money on this $150,000 sculpture of a watermelon:

at least he supports the arts.

About a year ago, me and my roommate, Kristin Hole, decided to compile a list of Canadian Genius Babes. Three criteria – Canadian Citizen, outstanding intellect, and a babe. We only ever came up with about 4 people. But the top of the list, no contest, was Margaret Atwood. God, I love Margaret Atwood. Check her out:

And she has a new novel out. My birthday is January 6, FYI.

He made a conversational documentary recording Martin Kippenberger’s Metro-Net Station in Dawson City, Yukon, in 2007.

Here’s Buster Keaton taking the Metro to the Yukon in 1922:

During the highly redundant orientation session for university TA’s, i passed some time reading C Magazine at the back of the room. I was trying to be discrete, but I came across this review that made me laugh out loud:

“At turns haunting and hilarious, Zin Taylor’s recent exhibition The Bakery of Blok explores the production and promotion of a television series about making bread in an abandoned bakery. The installation consists of single-channel video showing several “pilot” episodes, photographs of the starring actors and a series of baking tools displayed on three plinths…The video, Eight Pilot Episodes for The Bakery of Blok, however,  features eight remarkably unmarketable characters: all are blocks of wood, which the artist “cast” instead of human actors.”

“I don’t think about technique. The ideas dictate everything. You have to be true to that or you’re dead.”
David Lynch

Welcome to my new website. Home of my new blog. From my new home on Sumner Street. 

I am back in Portland after a busy nomadic summer. Twin Twin Peaks screened at the Twin Peaks Festival at the Seattle Art Museum. 

Witchrave screened at Inside Out in Toronto and Out on Screen in Vancouver.  Hannah and I attended a summer school session at Mildred’s Lane in Pennsylania, run by the inspirational J. Morgan Puett and Mark Dion.  

And then to the Yukon, for a six day river trip followed by a 2 week self-initiated residency at KIAC SOVA.

As soon as we arrived home it was time for Night at the Museum, at the Portland Art Museum. I did a dress up and face painting project for the younger attendees. More on this later.