Many Portlanders fondly remember the goats grazing over on Southeast Belmont Avenue. They were fun and quirky, yet thoroughly practical in keeping the grasses down—a great example of Portland doing things right.

Well the goats did their job, but now they are out of a job. Well, sort of. They are still all over the area—at least as marketing mascots for the various parties building this monster development.

There’s a lot of development going on these days in Portland. There is also much concern about the changing landscape—in particular the long-term affordability for the people that have lived and worked here for many years.

Back when Plazm started in 1991 the idea that people would want to come here in droves—let alone view Portland as a place of cultural influence and significance—was beyond the realm of possibility.

The developers, lawyers, and contractors have not been shy in using the goats to promote their project. There are goats on practically every sign in the construction site.

It turns out the goats have something to say about it all. And they typeset their comments in Comic Sans. 

Chronicle recently reproduced Rand’s seminal book—Thoughts on Design—for the first time since 1970. The book is a manifesto to exceptional design. Chronicle is putting together a series of conversations with design professionals around the country on Paul Rand and why he matters today. I was happy to get a call from Michael inviting me to participate in the one here in Portland. Details are below.

Event details
April 8th
6–8 pm
DWR Portland Studio
1200 NW Everett
Portland, OR 97209
RSVP: sday@dwr.com

The event has given me an excuse to immerse myself in Rand’s life story and immense body of work. He had a monumental impact on many things we take for granted today. To advertising, books, magazines, corporate identity, design, and education Rand brought a modernist approach. He married the verbal and the visual. And he had a monumental impact on the quality level of design—not to mention the humanizing of communication in an era of commodification.

So, where does that leave us today?

That’s what I am thinking about. Join us on the 8th to discuss.

Laura Fritz

Show preview by Elizabeth Pusack

Prisms, projections, and shadow play are among the previously employed strategies of the five artists featured in False Front’s forthcoming show of light installations, curated by Canadian-born Portland artist Laura Hughes. False Front is keeping the particulars in the shadows pre-show, but Hughes conjures the history of human conceptions of light in her curatorial statement.

Sydney S. Kim

“In ancient times, it was thought light was contained within the eye itself: emitting onto the seen object like aiming a lantern. We now understand light through modern science as electromagnetic radiation visible to the human eye measured by wavelength, frequency, speed, and direction.” She, and presumably the show, explore perception and visual engagement with everyday life.

Adam Ekberg

Artist Laura Fritz, who exhibited an intriguing installation at Plazm’s 20th Anniversary event last summer, contributes new work to “Light Structures.” Says the Seattle Post Intelligencer, Fritz’s work involves “the inside of your brain, the place where you process light, make memories and filter out stray things. In your account of what happened on any given day, you may not include the strand of hair that fell across your face, the inanimate objects that appeared to jump at the edge of your vision, the moth you saw trapped on a screen or the cat waiting behind a door. Those stray things appeal to Fritz.”

Also eagerly anticipated is an Adam Ekberg “minor spectacle–” his works often pass for especially charming screen-shots–as well as new works by Cay Horiuchi, Sydney S. Kim, and Scott Rodgers.

Cay Horiuchi

The show opens on April 7th, with an opening reception from 6-9, and runs through April 29th. Viewing hours are Saturday and Sunday from 12-3 or by appointment. False Front’s mission is to provide regional artists and curators with with an exhibition option beyond the conventional gallery.

 [Pank] fosters access to emerging and experimental poetry and prose.  What is the edge of things these days?

The edge of things tends to find us, and all we can really do is decide whether or not to publish it.

Find out more about what you can expect from a [PANK] invasion and running an arts collective on peanuts and duct tape after the jump.

[PANK] is an arts collective based at Michigan Technological University.  Is it still important for a literary outlet to be attached to a university or based in a city?

Don’t kid yourself about institutional affiliation. We’re not the Virginia Quarterly. We run [PANK] on peanuts, duct tape, and a lot of hustle and volunteer labor. Both of our institutions provide us a kind of safe haven and stability, but not much else.  Think Cormac McCarthy at the Sante Fe Institute.

And, god no, lit outlets needn’t be based out of universities or cities. Journals put out by MFA or English programs aren’t generally very good in my opinion, what with committees and boards of trustees doing their best to kill what makes art tick. Cities, in my opinion, tend toward myopia in the same ways. Cliques form. There’s enough people in the near vicinity that cities cease to engage much beyond their limits. That’s not always the case, but you see it a lot.

How do you decide where to invade?

The Portland and Seattle readings began with me having a conference in Seattle. To date, we’ve invaded Chicago, DC, Brooklyn, New Orleans and San Francisco.

What can we expect from an invasion?

Poetry and prose readings from [PANK] contributors and friends. And drinking. There is usually drinking.

The Romans would go in to expand their territory. After we’re invaded by [PANK], will we be part of an empire when you leave?

I like to think of us more like Visigoths, invading and sacking Rome. [PANK] is coming for your treasure and your women, figuratively speaking.

Catch more of [PANK] this Friday the 23rd at E.A.T. Chapel, 850 NE 81st St., 7PM.  Co-presented with Burnside Review and Housefire Publishing.  This interview was edited for clarity.

Check out the podcast on 107.1 FM here.