Papa November

Josh flew into town on Wed night to help me install my show at the Black Front Gallery. We got started around 11am and confirmed as I had suspected that the light in the space was too diffused to get any hard lines out of. Luckily I was prepared for this and had brought a small spotlight with me. Unluckily it was really just a small reading lamp with a 40 watt bulb and unless there was a solar eclipse it was not going to help at all. Plan B; after laughing at me, Josh walked over to Olympia hardware and brought back a 500 watt spotlight. That did the trick.

We then walked over to Old School Pizza and ate lunch with Michelle and Evie. If you come to Olympia, I will take you to Old School Pizza. You will thank me, that’s just how it works. So, around 1:00 we finally got around to laying down some tape. I had Josh stand by the wall and hold an extension cord. As I tried to capture the intricate loops of the cord’s shadow, I noticed that it kept moving. For some reason, Josh was not up to the task of holding the cord perfectly still out at arms length for 45 minutes straight. It was a little frustrating I have to admit. He suggested that I try it, but I chose to keep taping while complaining instead.

We taped Josh holding the cord, a ladder, one of Grant’s chairs (which just this morning he was demanding back), a cup, and a rubber tree. At about 11pm Josh mentioned that he was no longer having any fun. At midnight he noted that he actually had started to hate me. It was a long hard day, but we had a lot of fun and it was good catching up with Josh. If he had not been so nice as to fly out and help me with the show I would still be there right now, taping that stupid rubber tree. It turns out that he is also a more precise tape artist than I am. The parts he taped were laid out with precision and as smooth as possible. Mine were composed of mounds of crissrossing ripped tape pieces, like a drunken mosaic. But, as I explained to Josh, I was going for a more “painterly” effect. I told him I didn’t think his tape style wouldn’t ruin the piece. I hoped to shame him into not bringing it up again, but he doesn’t seem to hold to the “artist as genius” theory and shared his “artist as a liar trying to cover up his crappy techniques” theory with me. That’s the last time I let him fly out in the nick of time at his own expense with no recognition to help me out with a show.

There was a great turnout and we were lucky enough to have Amy, Kurt, Ian, Cindy, Jane, Rob, and Sarah all come down for the show. Rob and Sara actually helped me tape several of the pieces I showed photos of.

Michelle was amazing enough to ignore the fact that she had just had a baby and invited everyone over to our house after the show. She made cupcakes and Amy made banana pudding. That is really the only reason I had the show, to get Amy and Shell to make some treats.

Thanks to everyone who came out for the opening, even Josh.