20

Moses Lake

Anne Mathern’s latest solo show at Lawrimore Projects is called Moses Lake. It will be up August 16th through September 29th. The show features new photos, video and installation. The installation involved the artist suspended from the ceiling jumping up and down on a large (foam) mound/mountain. Mathern was accompanied on her staying in-on-place-march by the fantasy metal band DoomHawk. The symbiotic relationship of the black and bone and feather clad explorers was more than just a put-on, it was in fact, the convergence of two disparate bands of American wanderers. Happily, I didn’t have to ride the rails or search the woods to see the journey, happened all right across the street from The Adventure Studio at an art gallery.

17

Toobs

On Friday we went to see Susan Robb’s piece Warmth, Giant Black Toobs in Seattle’s Volunteer Park. We made a picnic and brought a blanket. I didn’t expect to stay but we ended up staying for hours entranced by the sway of the fifty foot tall hefty bags and the bossy man in charge of shooing children and other people away from the Toobs. We were lucky enough to witness one of the Toobs flying away. The enormous tube was caught in its escape by a stately Evergreen, the old man vs. nature, nature triumphs again. Good job, Susan Robb.

16

Perpetual Infinitude

I missed the opening of Chad Wentzel’s latest show to attend the wedding of the year in Birch Bay, WA, but I was lucky enough to see it, recently. Chad Wentzel and a Star-Studded Celebration of Infinitude and Perpetual Beauty is a deeply satisfying presentation of art and craft with more than a touch of hilarity. The titles of pieces were able to walk us down Wentzel’s personal memory lane in the style only he can, “When I Was In High School I Knew Some Guys Who Smoked Their Own Poop. I Think They Had Eaten Drugs And Thought They Could Get High Off The Remaining Drugs In Their Shit. I Don’t Know If It Worked”.

Or the following piece, “My Brother Jumped Off A Wood Pile And Bit His Tongue Almost All The Way Off”.

6

Tall Bike Jousting

The Adventure School decided to hit up that cultural phenomenon known yearly, as The Dead Baby Bike Race. In fact, we didn’t quite make the race, but did make it in time for the Tall Bike Joust. The tall bike jousters are a different, braver, tougher breed of person than average. They compete on tall bikes. These are huge bikes, constructed of spare parts, commonly built by welding two frames one atop of the other. The drive train is reconfigured to connect to the upper set of pedals, and the controls are moved to the upper handlebar area. These brave bike punx then lance each other with a huge pvc pipe with a boxing glove taped to the end. First one to hit the ground, loses.

We had front row standing position. Aviva was wearing casual sequins and took a nasty hit in the neck from an out of control competitor. This was actually pretty cool because then we were able to talk to KO, the Bicycle Jesus, who was in jovial spirits before he took a tough fall. Another one of our favorites from the joust was actually the winner of the Dead Baby Bike Race, what a hunk! There were many stony faced competitors, including but not limited to: Completely naked guy, Summer, the guy with the Bozo hair, Jolly Green (Giant), and of course the brother/sister duel duo.

Everyone left unscathed and then proceeded to whoop it up all night with a BBQ, concert and Cyclecide Suicide Ferris Wheel Ride. The night was great and it made us want to start working out so that next year we too can participate in a gruelling, no-holds barred bike jock joust. P.S. thanks for the burgers and brews Dead Baby. Our only regret is that we came too late to see Feral Children play at Jules Maes Saloon.