The Art Escape Plan

new stuff

2008-07-19T13:19:00.001-07:00

just some quick photos of work I am trying to get done before we leave for NY.

dentist

2008-07-17T05:50:00.001-07:00

So I thought I would mention one more thing. I had to go to the dentist yesterday. It turned out that a few of my fillings had failed and needed to be replaced. So they had to grind out 3 fillings and refill them. It took three hours..... yeah. Anyhoo it didn't hurt at all while they were doing it but today I am feeling it. The crazy part is, and I am sure this is old news, they used this new Ultraviolet curing ceramic/resin. Last time I had a filling it was a metal alloy type thing. So you can imagine when they brought this crazy light wand doo-dad up to my mouth I was kind of freaked out. Well you can guess where this is going. I am going to find some of this stuff and try it for myself. I know a few folks have already messed with this stuff (Phil Carrizzi: see photo below). Also the new 3D printer that we ordered at New Paltz works on the same principal were resin is cured using a UV light as it is being pulled out of a pool or reservoir. Cool stuff.

2008-07-16T06:52:00.000-07:00

Sooooooooo. I haven't written anything in a while. I feel like my life has become a whirlwind of paperwork, carpentry, computers and house hunting. In anticipation of getting ready for the big move Liz and I are trying to sell her house, rent mine, buy a new house, find a place to rent in New Paltz and finish up my job at VCU. So you can imagine how hard it has been to find time to sit down and write a few things on ye-old blog. I think we have successfully found a place to rent while Liz's place is on the market. When her place sells we will be able to buy a place up yonder. Until then we have been packing packing packing. I didn't realize how much crap we have until we started to box everything up.
Anyhoo, after dealing with my flooded basement Liz and I visited New Paltz one more time to find a place to live. I think we did it. There is a place we love that we are going to try and get. We pulled out of that other house. It was just way too expensive and WAY too small. We realized that we have too much stuff, hence the WAY too small. It seems like a perfect time to reduce the amount of crap that we own. So I have been recycling all of my old magazines, consolidating my DVD collection, getting rid of that old coffee table that was always a eyesore and just generally throwing away a lot of crap. We ordered our PODs which I am excited about. They come at the end of the month which will be nice. Once they show up we will be sending off the majority of our stuff into storage for a month or so until we can get settled. I will try and post some more when I can. Until then I will leave you with this photo of the "farmers stand" that is down the street from the house we are looking at. I put it in quotes because really its an open air grocery store.

oh man

2008-06-10T07:44:00.000-07:00

So I was going to write about a metals show I saw by the senior metals students at VCU but my freaking basement flooded last night!!(no worries. I will write about it later).

So far there is no structural damage (cross your fingers) the bad news is that Liz and I were packing our studios to go to New Paltz and all of the boxes were on the floor down there!! I was told by the city that "someone" forgot to turn off my service before they purged the main line. They have been working on the water in Jackson Ward for about two months now and it has been a complete mess. I was told that in the course of one day all of the water from the main line followed my service line and emptied into my basement. So I am spending most of the day today cataloging tools and such that got ruined so I can make a claim. I am also kind of posting this as a time line just in case for insurance purposes. I have some great shots on my other camera. Liz kept yelling at me to stop taking photos and start saving my stuff (check the bottom of the stump for a water lever reference). Here are the ones I got off while she wasn't looking:

hmmm

2008-06-08T09:05:00.000-07:00

you have to skip through the first 60 some seconds to get to the good stuff but if you like radiohead's new album you will like this.

Big Ideas (don't get any) from James Houston on Vimeo.

please read

2008-05-28T06:15:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to make an effort to stop "flipping" through pages or "surfing" for images but actually taking the time to read things. As I am packing up my life, all of my belongings are now boxes and all of my distractions have become pixelated. Somehow I find the time to visit a few of these sites on a regular basis and there is ALWAYS something that makes me think about my work or my field. Anyhoo here are a few places I go:

Conceptual Metalsmithing

Redefining Craft

Extreme Craft

new house maybe?

2008-05-24T06:11:00.000-07:00

Well Liz and I went up to New Paltz to check things out. The rent there is CRAZY. Before we went up we sat down and did some math and figured a mortgage might be the same as rent if not cheaper. So we went house shopping. We looked at about 15 houses in two days!!! My brain was pretty much shot. I am still mentally cataloging the good, the bad and the ugly (This one has bullet holes through the window, this one has a foot of water in the basement, this one needs a new roof, that one doesn't have AC, etc etc etc) Near the end we found the almost perfect house. The only bad part is that it doesn't really have room for a studio.

I gotta say thanks again to Myra and Ken for having us at their place. I know having house guests is a huge pain in the ass. FYI - Ken makes some mind blowing coffee and Myra prepares some tasty meat. I feel like I have been living in a coffee cave all of this time. I think we went to at least four coffee shops in New Paltz and they were all incredible! Richmond needs to get off its ass.
Well So far so good. I am freaking out about all the work I have to do in the next three months to make all of this happen. I have a bunch of repairs to do to both places here before we can rent or sell them. I gotta finish a few things up at VCU, prepare a few things for New Paltz and sell then buy a freaking house. whew. Until then here are some photos of what we are calling "THE house". Check out the awesome checkered porch Cross your fingers. -Out

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

It official

2008-05-18T05:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not blogging. I have been busy and now you will know why.

I am leaving Richmond. I have just accepted a job at Suny New Paltz. I am super excited. I flew up a couple of weeks ago and did a quick interview. I am really honored to get to work with three great metal artists: Jamie Bennet, Myra Mimlitsch-Gray and John Cogswell. Now my life is going to be the madness that is preparing property for sale and rent. I spent all day yesterday putting in a new sink, installing thresholds, patching drywall etc.

If anyone is interested in either properties please let me know. I have talked to a few of you guys out there but I am really looking for a sale. I am trying to rent or sell by early July. I am going to miss Richmond. I have a feeling that Liz and I are going be busy doing all things Richmond before we leave. This means going to the Byrd, Maymont, Pony pasture, Cary town, First Friday, etc. If anyone wants to come along let us know. We gotta get it all done soon.

On another note I just got this book in the mail. Its called BIJOUX: Illustration et Design put out by MaoMao publications. Its all about jewelry designer's and their drawings. Its a huge book, something like 640 pages of full color illustrations and photos. Lots of Awesome folks are in it. I don't know where to buy it yet but you may want to check here. Check it out.

"I am Gabirel Craig"

2008-05-08T11:35:00.001-07:00

Well hello dare. It has been a while. Interesting developments on my end. Some things I can talk about and somethings I can't (I may be able to spill the beans here soon so keep reading). Things are winding down and pretty much over as far as school is concerned. I have have been the busiest I have ever been. There have been shows after shows after shows and I am having a hard time keeping up with all of them. I have had to cancel a few things that I am not too happy about canceling namely ICFF/Designboom. I just felt that if I was to keep my sanity and survive monitarily speaking I has to cancel. It has to do with the thing I can't talk about yet. I may or may not be leaving Richmond. There I have said it. In any case if I do leave I have a house for sale and possibly another space that would have been an awesome live/work/rent space but alas it will make some artist VERY happy. Anyway if you are interested I am sure you have seen all of the photos here on the blog. If you want a personal tour of either space just email me. Moving on...

I have some work in a show that is up right now at the Facere gallery in Seattle
The show is called Signs of Life. Here is the description:
Signs of Life is a contemporary jewelry art show and companion jewelry art catalog/literary journal. The jewelry art show features work by nine artists. The catalog/literary journal pairs these jewelry artists with nine writers in a unique publication that celebrates both literature and jewelry art.

I am also exhibiting with the Sienna Gallery at SOFA NY. Myra Mimlitsch Gray and JAMIE BENNETT will also have work there. If you are in the area please go and check it out.

Finally I have to mention an exhibition I saw yesterday. VCU is having its normal end of the year of shows. One of them:
Gabirel Craig: the narcissist series -rings that know they are great
appealed to me the most.

The work is about itself, jewelry's self importance as a whole and reasons why most people think jewelry is successful. Standing there looking at this "punch in the face" masterpiece all I could ask was "how important is contemporary jewelry?" or more so "why do I feel my jewelry is important?". I had this overwhelming feeling that I was doing something wrong and felt extremely self indulgent by making the work I make. The show inspired me to think more about my work which to me was a huge success and I loved it. Great job Gabriel.

See photo of installation below.

I should have some interesting information in my next post.

SPRING BADA BING

2008-04-23T08:18:00.000-07:00

So I did this show which was really cool. I had a good time. I just wished it wasn't raining the WHOLE time. I am ready to dry off for a while. I only have this one photo that I took but I think it sums up all of the cool stuff that was there. Thanks again to the Richmond craft mafia. Click the image to make it bigger. -Arthur

come out and buy my stuff

2008-04-17T05:20:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted anything in a while but I promise I will be better after I do these shows and school ends. I have been slammed with house repair, finals, laser cutting, CNC routing, making work, finishing up stuff on the studio so we can move in, doing electrical work on lights and fixtures, fixing digital equipment at school, Going to art openings and end of the year events, sending work off in the mail, etc etc etc. Somehow, in between all of these things I have been making work to sell at this years SPRING BADA BING!! hosted by the Richmond Craft Mafia (I love them ladies). Please click the button in the upper left hand corner for info on where and when. Until then I thought I would give you a taste. Sorry about the bad photos. I think something is wrong with my camera phone or I have just been drinking WAY too much coffee. Gotta get back to work....... see you there.

ETSY lecture

2008-04-09T06:31:00.000-07:00

photo above of Matt Stinchcomb and I with a live Etsy broadcast of the event behind us.

So..... I was asked to participate in a lecture that is part of a series set up by the American Craft Council (gulp) called Making Meaning & The Marketplace: Craft and the next generation of thought(great title btw).

Here is how it went: a 30 - 40 minute lecture by Rob Kalin(founder and CEO of Etsy) followed by a Q&A session moderated by Sonya Clark(head of the VCU crafts department) with Cathy Emerson(from the Quirk gallery), Rob Kalin, Matt Stinchcomb(head of marketing at Etsy) and myself all fielding questions from the audience. I have to admit that the Q&A could have gone on forever. There was plenty to talk about. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to get to everything (plus the spotlight seemed to shine brightest on the keynote speaker...he had a lot to say). I was a little disappointed with the turn out. Usually the place is packed and you can't get a seat.

Someone told me I "looked grumpy" after the lecture. I've got news for you that is my: I am so nervous I am going to vomit in my mouth face.

To me, the most important part of the lecture was: discovering who was behind Etsy, their motives, new things they are introducing on their site that help localize crafters and how sites like Etsy affect galleries' relationships with their artists. I have to admit, I don't think anyone was expecting Rob Kalin to be sooooo... (I know he is going to hate me for this) what I think Bill Gates would be like if I met him in person, kind of smarmy and full of a "I know more than you attitude". He was VERY intelligent and well spoken but a bit aggressive. Not that his ideas were bad ideas. They were great ideas. They were just presented in a fast, don't look back, finger pointing kind of way. There were a lot of holes in his arguments but hell, I guess you have to be aggressive/progressive to get things done in life. I, however, probably came off as a repetitive drunk monkey with vomit breath. Oh well.

A lot of people that were important to me were there: Robert Ebendorf, Susie Ganch, Andrew Glasgow, Monica Hampton, Gabriel Graig, Natalya Pinchuk, The Richmond Craft Mafia, Esty people, VCU Crafts students, VCU painting faculty, local makers, just to name a few. I guess in reality, all of the right people were there. Its hard to summarize the whole thing. It definitely stirred up some interesting ideas about local economy, the handmade, online communities and how local markets should fit into our daily lives. I am not going to go into it on my blog because someone already else did. 1708 gallery blog: via Justin Lincoln and his student Chris Morgan
I also commented on a sort of not so nice review of the lecture here

The best part is that I had a great time and it seemed that everyone came out of the lecture with something to talk about. It was good to see a surprising number of old friends from VCU who actually work at Etsy now. rock on.

Thank you to ACC, VCU, Etsy and Quirk for inviting me to be a part of an ever-evolving discussion of Crafts, the internet and Art. I hope that the next two lectures sponsored by the ACC with pick up some of the topics we didn't get to. -out

BOTH

2008-03-26T20:05:00.001-07:00

BOTH, originally uploaded by arthur hash.

So I am going to do this show and they asked for a photo of me..... They said to make it look like the image on the right. This is what I came up with.

SNAG slide show playlist

2008-03-24T09:31:00.001-07:00

So I have been getting a lot of email about the music from the Student slide show at SNAG so here it is: Sorry for the delay

1. Trolle Siebenhaar-Sweet Dogs- 3:43 - Sweet Dogs - Single

2. Stephen Malkmus-Jenny & The Ess-Dog- 2:45 -Stephen Malkmus

3. The Pixies-The Holiday Song- 2:15 -Surfer Rosa & Come On Pilgrim

4. Modest Mouse-Missed the Boat- 4:25 -We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

5. Frank Black-I Burn Today- 4:06 -Honeycomb

6. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah-Over And Over Again- 3:09 -Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

7. The Beatles-Any Time At All- 2:13 -A Hard Day's Night

8. Barry Louis Polisar-All I Want Is You- 2:38 -Juno (soundtrack)

9. Modest Mouse-Never Ending math equation- 3:22 -Building nothing out of Something

10. Pavement -Billie- 3:44 -Terror Twilight

more tile

2008-03-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

I bet everyone is sick of this. They did the floor. Every day I come home from work I see progress. I am so excited. Liz already called first dibs on the shower. I can't wait to see what it looks like when I get home today.

Symposium announcement

2008-03-19T12:00:00.001-07:00

So I am doing this thing... I get really nervous talking in front of a large amount of people matter of fact I might vomit which is always nice to see....but I am going to announce it anyway-

Making, Meaning, and the Marketplace: Craft and the next generation
This program was developed by the American craft Council in partnership with VCU’s Department of Craft/Material Studies The panel will discuss the impact of the Internet on the craft market and the role of the craft gallery in a booming art market. It will feature Rob Kalin, president and founder of Etsy.com, the online marketplace for all things handmade, in conversation with Sonya Clark, chair of the Craft/Material Studies, Kathy Emerson, director of Quirk Gallery, and Arthur Hash, a jeweler and alumnus who shows his work with both Quirk and etsy.com.

Thursday, April 3, 2008
5:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Grace Street Theater
930 West Grace Street
Richmond Virginia
Reception to follow.

new ring

2008-03-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

okay so I know it has been done before and I have already posted a bunch of photos of some prototypes but I just couldn't resist. A punch out ring. I am also trying to avoid the controversy going on with SNAG. I just think it is a HUGE misunderstanding. Here goes:

more tile

2008-03-17T16:58:00.001-07:00

here are some more shots of the tile work. These guys are doing a great job and I can't wait till its finished. If you are in the Richmond area and need some tile done let me know. I will hook you up with their number.

more lasers

2008-03-17T16:48:00.000-07:00

So I just finished installing this piece at Plant Zero in Richmond Virginia. Its a Painting and Printmaking faculty show/digital media. They are made from Epson Enhanced matte paper that has been cut on the laser cutter. There are nine clusters of three stacked on top of each other held in with magnets. Here are a few shots:

Coffee/ICFF

2008-03-16T11:42:00.000-07:00

So Liz and I went to the 821 Cafe this morning for brunch and to my surprise they gave me this mug. I have been eating here for over nine years and its seems that I get a different mug every time. That's a lot of mugs. Back in the day, before I left for grad school I used to walk in and they would bring me my food. I didn't even need to order! Man that rocked. It has definitely changed since the old times. Back then there would be fresh baked goods under glass up at the bar. The place smelled like fresh bread. I missed those days. Don't get me wrong the place is not bad its just different. Matter of fact 821 is our default position when we can't decide where to go for food.
I also ran into a high school buddy of mine, Matt Smith from the band Strike Anywhere. The only thing I could think about was how I went to high school with this guy and how dumb I looked drinking coffee out of this crazy pink bunny mug. Anyhoo. I am sure you didn't come here to read about my eating habits. Here are some things that are going on besides eating....and no my bathroom is still not finished.

I am back in the swing of things gearing up for ICFF's Designboom I am kind of excited because I always wanted to go to ICFF(International Contemporary Furniture Fair) and now I have a reason. I have been told to prepare a LARGE inventory so I am starting now. The mart will be from May 17-20 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York.

Its also kind of interesting to see all of these awesome designs from past Designboom fairs and recognizing them from all over the place(Internet, magazines, Blogs etc etc.) For those of you wondering I will be posting a soundtrack list from the 2008 SNAG Digital juried exhibition as soon as I find it. -Arthur out

more shots

2008-03-15T06:32:00.000-07:00

so its been a whole eight days with no bathroom. I can't tell you how much life sucks without a bathroom. I am really itchy. The good news is that the tile is supposed to be done today.

This thing sucks (in a good way)

2008-03-13T05:11:00.000-07:00

Ever since Liz moved in with her cats there has been an insane amount of hair... both human and animal. She has two cats, I have a dog blah blah blah. I was given a gift certificate to Lowes and didn't really need anything so I ended up buying this Dyson hand-held vacuum. I always wanted a Dyson but didn't want to dish out $500-$800 for a frick'n vacuum cleaner(especially because I have hardwood floors). I have to say that the hand-held model is not really that bad. Man I love this thing! It really works and its easy to dump out and the filters can be washed out..blah blah blah...I could go on and on about the color alone. Its pretty amazing. But ladies and gentlemen, its almost perfect. There is only one complaint. The battery life. I was shocked that it only lasts for six minutes! Now granted the thing gets full of hair and debris WAY before the battery runs out (we have a lot of nooks filled with a lot of pet hair dust bunnies DAILY!) but still SIX MINUTES!! Battery life aside, I have to say that it is great to have in the studio. The clear reservoir lets you see all the nasty stuff you have been living with all this time as well as save any little shinny thing you may accidentally suck up. All and all its a nice little device. Although I kind of wish I had an army of them when the battery runs out. Damn you Dyson.

SNAG 2008!!!

2008-03-12T05:45:00.000-07:00

SO we are back from SNAG. Liz and I had a great time! We met some incredible people. The lectures were AWESOME! If you didn't make it out this year, make sure you come next year! The line up this year was amazing! Some people to note were
Deb Tod Wheeler
Iris Eichenberg
Richard Nelipovich
I have to say that I didn't get to do and see everything I wanted. These things are always hard and can be a bit overwhelming. I am glad I got to talk to a couple of students and see their work and I hope that next year I will be able to have more social time for everyone.

I really wanted to talk with Doug Bucci and Mike and Elizabeth from the Velvet da Vinci more.

Saying all of this, before we left for SNAG my second floor bathroom leaked all over my first floor kitchen and had to be ripped out and replaced. We thought that by the time we came back we would have it all finished and done but alas there was more damage than we thought and it doesn't look like are going to be able to have a bathroom for a while. So I thought I would post some images of that. We were so busy at SNAG we forgot to take any pictures. If you have any pictures of me at SNAG let me know. Also I wanted to say thanks to Evangelina and all of the people at SCAD for the conference. You guys did a great job.

SNAG CRESTING

2008-03-03T05:07:00.000-08:00

I have done nothing but organize, decipher and decode student handwriting for the last two weeks! But I think it is finished. I have a few things to do like add music and check for spelling errors but other than that it is finished!! I am going to do a couple test runs tonight and then pack for SNAG!!!

2008-02-27T06:55:00.000-08:00

I just got this shirt in the mail. Its by an artist who sells through a website called design by humans. They have some great shirts on there. It came in some great packaging. A really nice see-through bag and some stickers (a company after my own heart). The shirt itself is really nice but a little rough. It is an artist's shirt so it came with a disclaimer saying so. But hell I don't mind I couldn't have done a better job with the screen alignment. I will be wearing this shirt soon after I wash it a couple of times to soften it up.

I also kind of like these:

We shall see how the one I bought survives the wash..... I will report back soon..