Friday April 4, 2008
06:00 PM : The Diptych Proje @ Brian Marki Fine Art
Visual Arts / Architecture Flyered by kmikeym
Encaustic Art "The Diptych Project - A Collaboration in Wax"
Brian Marki Fine Art, 2236 NE Broadway, Portland, OR (503) 249-5659.
Opens April 4th, 2008 6PM until April 30, 2008
76 Artists!! International Encaustic Artists and New England Wax present parallel exhibitions of The Diptych Project - A Collaboration in Wax. The west coast launch of this touring exhibition opens at Brian Marki Fine Art. Hours are 10 - 6 Monday through Saturday. The corresponding east coast exhibition will begin at Whitney Art Works Portland, ME from April 4 – 26, 2008.
The tandem exhibitions are the first of their kind featuring collaborative work in encaustic media created by member artists paired from each organization. Each artist in the 36 pairings created one half of a two-panel painting or "diptych" then sent the work to the partner artist to answer in visual dialogue and complete the piece. Works completed by IEA artists will debut at the Brian Marki Fine Art in Oregon, and works completed by NEW artists will be introduced at Whitney Art Works in Maine.
06:00 PM : Chris Held @ Jace Gace
Visual Arts / Architecture Flyered by kmikeym
o·ver·stock v
1. vti to stock more of something than is necessary or desirable
2. vt to graze an area with more livestock than it can support
n
an excessively large supply of something
Today’s highly refined marketing machine appeals to our personal hopes, wants, needs, and dreams to effectively entice us to the point of purchase. Advertisers have found such success by making many of the same promises offered by religion. Love, happiness, acceptance, and comfort are now offered by corporate America and made available in a pill, wrapped in plastic, or with free shipping. Religious organizations have quickly taken quos from marketers and now spew their everlasting-life-guarantees over airwaves and across billboards.
In the installation, Overstock [Jace Gace, Portland, OR, April 2008], Chris Held unites the messages of product marketing and religious practice by creating a monolithic shrine to the modern commodity. Masses of stacked goods ascend skyward towards a peak. At the crest, a single microwave sits in place of the Buddha or Christ, adorned by glowing halos of colorful plastic containers. At the base, T.V. dinners rest like rainbow colored offerings around the perimeter. By borrowing iconography from retail displays and spiritual altars, Held engages viewers in a familiar way with a subversive message.
Behind the scenes, Overstock is powered by credit cards and box-store return policies. By taking advantage of offerings such as 0%APR on purchases to obtain goods he’s intent on returning, Held preys on a system of consumer seduction. The keys to mega-corporate success are: buy in bulk, maximize profit, and pass crumbs of savings and convenience onto buyers. These ‘benefits’ are essentially a crack in an otherwise stone-faced façade, open like a wound that’s supporting its own critique.
08:00 PM : THE ROAD WARRIOR @ Backspace
Movie/Film/TV Flyered by kmikeym
BEER, TRIVIA, & GASOLINE: OLD TOWN COMPUTERS' GEEK MOVIE NIGHT TO SHOW "THE ROAD WARRIOR" 4/4/08.
Lord Humungus. The Feral Kid. Finger-amputating boomerangs. The precious juice. Gyrocopters. The last of the V8 Interceptors. And most of all, the biggest bad-ass ever to spew drunken anti-semetism to the Malibu Police Dept, Max "Mad Max" Rockatanski, will be gracing the big screen at Backspace for a showing of the greatest post-apocalyptic film ever made, THE ROAD WARRIOR. Part of Old Town Computers' first-Friday monthly Geek Movie Night series, the 8:00 showing at Backspace is an free all-ages event with a cash beer garden and pub style trivia with prizes provided by Old Town Computers.
Something about Cold War era (possibly the constant daily threat of nuclear annihilation) prompted one of the greatest outpouring of post-apocalyptic film, and the crown jewel of this genre is, hands-down, the 1981 classic The Road Warrior. Featuring a cast of truly bizarre characters, incredible car chases, violence and gore that perfectly skirts the line of squirmy and campy, more hockey pads then the Detroit Red Wings, and one seriously bad-ass Australian Shepherd, The Road Warrior is just what Portlanders need to get them through their lingering Seasonal Affective Disorder. Plus, beer, a trivia contest, and prizes can't hurt either.
This monthly first-friday event, which is all-ages, starts at 8:00 with a pub style trivia contest, with a questions touching on the theme of " The Apocalypse". After trivia we will begin the movie, and announce the winning trivia team after the end of the movie. There will also be a 21+ beer garden area, with $3 microbrews on tap. Backspace also has Stumptown Coffee, a full vegan kitchen, Hot Lips Pizza, and a wide selection of non-alcoholic beverages for the under-21 crowd (who probably don't even remember a pre-krazy-katholic Mel). Rowdy movie-viewing behaviour is welcomed and encouraged, so if you feel like shouting "Looks like I found myself some gasoline!" or hooting triumphantly whenever an 18-Wheeler demolishes a dune buggy, don't hold back.
Backspace is located at 115 NW 5th Ave, and Old Town Computers is a full service computer shop located inside of Backspace.