Show 2: MIA and Show 3:Norkitsch

So, the Sarahs are not are very technologically savvy and not very good at keeping in touch. We asked a wonderful photographer to help us out, but forgot to ask for the pictures and didn't take any of our own. In conclusion,we have almost no pictures of our second show, Microcosms.  It was, however, very interesting to research (we are pretty good at that).  In my Reader's Digest Encyclopedic Dictionary a synonym for Universe was "man"; I mean how do you reduce that?  We didn't really know where to go from there, but we tried our best- and received a lot of valuable help from other local artists.  Hopefully we will find pictures soon, but I am going to go ahead and skip to show #3... February 2013.

The original concept for the Kitsch Mobile came from Sarah Bethea's mother, Louise.  There was a vague goal of combining art and anthropology, and her idea to have a themed art truck was the best there was!  In the spirit of anthropological research, and the hermeneutic problem of art reflecting or being interpreted according to an artist's experience, the third Kitsch Mobile was Norkitsch.

 

We finally realized that flyers help with turn-out, go degrees in the Humanities and not Marketing!

 

Sarah and I are both Southern born and Southern raised, in fact- we were both born in Texas, so we were faced with a true hermeneutical problem.  Could we understand the North enough to create relevant (albeit kitschy) art about it?  I have to admit that there were many clichés, but that is the fun of exploration in a safe environment with KITSCH splattered all over the nameplate, eh?

 

After making lists of stuff found in the North: Aspen glades, the light at night when the moon reflects off of pure snowfall, Aurora Borealis, dry skin- insanely wrinkled elderly and sub-cutaneous fat, walrus/ seals/ penguins/ polar b's, and the breath of mammals is visible.  It kind of turned into an Aleutian/Pacific NW Native American paradise.  We studied form lines, totems, and ovoids and ovoids and more ovoids (I still sometimes want to draw them as a meditation).

 

One of the highlights was a Styrofoam interior, thanks to Sarah Bethea who gathered and studied Styrofoam for 2 months beforehand.  The U-Haul became a primordial ice cave, and a wonderful backdrop for small oils of Aleut landscapes, animals that we rarely see in real life, textilian ovoids, rubber and foamy costumes that allowed our guests to dress in snow and look like sexy Vikings, and  of course icebergs. 

 

This time our contributors were Sarah Bethea, Sarah Goddard, Julianne Goddard, and Tanja Keller.

 

 

The ice cave from the outside

 

Sarah Bethea's Aleutian oil paintings

 

 

 

Tanja Keller with her acrylic arctic animals

 

 

Sarah Goddard's oily iceberg

 

Julianne Goddard's calendar with moon cycles and built in zodiac

 

All costumes by Sarah Bethea

 

South Carolina honored our tribute to the north with one of the coldest days all winter- upper 30's Fahrenheit with sleet (I know true Northerners- this is not really cold).  We were excited for the great turn out despite the weather, and built a flower campfire in the middle of the U-Haul for huddling.

 

Brrrr... time for spring themes

I found a few daytime/set-up photographs from the first show, enjoy!

Making sure the sign was straight

A curious observer

General Grant and a fancy necklace greeted patrons, much to the chagrin of our southern audience ( Not too sure Ulysses would have loved it either)

Show I: Concepts of Time

The whole journey began when we decided to explore "Concepts of Time".  Is it a cone? Is it an artificial construct?  Is it used to control?  We struck out with fear.  Our artists consulted German philosophers, science textbooks, a real live physicist, astronomy magazines, old people, children, and mystics of all religions (not all really, but many).
The result was a gauzy show, one without conclusions, but presenting many questions.  Vito Acconci was consigned (via video) to the back corner where he pointed at the guests until most of them didn't care to look anymore.  Confederate soldiers were transported back and forth in time, wearing Shakespearean garb at one moment and basically a banana at another; their stately profiles fixed.  No music played from two turntables featuring cloth records.  Nebulae sat suspended, caught in a canvas and prevented from flinging out their stars.  Also there were cones aplenty cause honestly the cone idea makes a lot of sense. 

This show was held on the First Thursday in September 2012, and featured art by Sarah Bethea, Sarah Goddard, Jeanne Biega, and Loretta Goddard.

Outside of truck  Main St. Columbia, SC

Inside- Thanks to Tom and Andrew for helping with set-up.  The shelves were lovely

                                                      

Peeking out from behind Vito's room- cloth records thanks to Sarah Bethea

 

Pictures of individual art will follow...