Freedom on the Fence is a documentary project about the history of Polish posters and their significance to the social, political and cultural life of Poland. Examining the period from WWII through the fall of Communism, Freedom on the Fence captures the paradox of how this unique art form flourished within a Communist regime.

Andrea Marks, Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Graphic Design program at Oregon State University (OSU), will discuss and present her film Freedom on the Fence. A sampling of posters from the film project will also be available for viewing at the event.

Whether you are a designer or are simply interested in art/design history, cultural history, or politics, you will want to be at The Cleaners on March 19th. Seating is limited, you can reserve your spot at the AIGA Portland web site.

Event Details

Thursday, March 19, 2009
7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
The Cleaners at Ace Hotel Portland
403 SW 10th Avenue and Stark
Portland, Oregon 97205

The documentary contains interviews with older and younger generations of poster artists, examples of past and current poster work, historic and current film footage of where and how the poster is viewed, and commentaries from both American and Polish scholars and artists on the significance of the Polish poster as a cultural icon. More information + the film trailer can be found on Freedom on the Fence web site.

Need something else interesting and free to do next week? Next Wednesday, Chas Bowie will present a lecture at PNCA.

In Gloomy Skies Make Great Softboxes, Portland art critic Chas Bowie surveys the state of contemporary Northwest photography, assessing the work of many regional artists who are actively cultivating new photographic idioms and avenues of exploration.

The Pacific Northwest has a longstanding and multi-faceted engagement with photography, as evidenced in part by the legacy of Portland’s Blue Sky Gallery; Seattle’s acclaimed Monsen Collection; and Vancouver BC’s concentration of noted “photoconceptualists.” These disparate traditions are not only well-documented, but markedly at odds with one another, rendering any Northwest photography “scene” more compartmentalized than unified.

As the demographic makeup of the Northwest shifts, however, so too does the application of photography in the fine arts. Gloomy Skies Make Great Softboxes demonstrates how emerging artists such as Isaac Layman (Seattle), Andrew O’Brien (Eugene), and Holly Andres (Portland) are transcending regional aesthetic trends and moving toward an increasingly progressive and critical mode of image-making. “One Day I Will Learn How to Build Things”, by Fred Muram. 2008. Courtesy the artist and Howard House, Seattle. “Bookcase” by Isaac Layman. 2006. Courtesy the artist and Lawrimore Project, Seattle.

A link list of the most notorious web phenomena of the past few years.
OMG!LOL!TTYL!!1!11

p.s. thanks ellen!

2D Design:
1st: Patrick Hennessey
2nd: Tom O’Toole

3D Design:
1st: James Owen
2nd: Dominic Cardoso

Motion Design:
1st: Stephen Fitzgerald
2nd: Carlos Maya

And here’s the winning animation.
Stephen Fitzgerald from Cut&Paste on Vimeo.

The rest of the work produced at the event can be found here. Now I gotta practice up my wacom tablet skills for next year.

Lesque, Japan’s top indie skateboard company, just dropped their latest video, “One Year“. The DVD features a number of really beautifully-filmed vignettes introducing each of the four pros on the team.

Highly recommended.

Rob G. on The Limey.

Josh Berger, founder and creative director of Plazm, will be lecturing at Oregon State University @ Owen, room 106, 6:30 pm on March 5. The lecture is free and open to the public.

A second lecture will be held at Pratt on March 26th. More details to follow.

We published an extensive interview by Carl Hanni with Portland’s own Walt Curtis back in Plazm issue #3. Carl talks with Walt about his works, growing up gay in Oregon, and Portland poets. We have posted the full article along with a few of Walt’s drawings in the magazine section of our web site.

In 1985 Gus Van Sant adapted one of Walt’s stories—Mala Noche—to his first film. Gus discusses this process in the interview. Mala Noche was recently given a fine reissue on DVD with extras by Criterion Collection. As Gus’s body of work has grown, so has the importance of this film and the story. Given Gus’s recent Oscar nominations for Milk, we thought this might be a nice time to bring this article back to the fore.

It’s tomorrow! At the Portland Art Museum, doors at 7. Josh was a judge in 07.