An earlier post “Making Time for Creativity” inspired my aunt, Terry Knapp (a neonatal nurse in Dallas) to write in: “Right now I am doing some “fauxberge” eggs, bejewelled, pearled and other themes….mardi gras beads for one…. I hope to sell these to help a colleague with cancer. It’s all relative. You are driven to create in one way or another. You don’t get a choice. It’ll come out somewhere.”
Terry just sold her first batch of eggs. I think they’re pretty cool, so here’s a pic.
Fauxberge Eggs by Terry Knapp
So what else is going on right now? Well, there’s a terrific show at the Hatton- Warm, the work of three new CSU faculty members (Suzanne Faris, Ajean Lee Ryan, Cyane Tornatzsky). Stay tuned: next week I’ll cover it in detail. This weekend I’m a little preoccupied, because… indulge me a moment of flagrant self-promotion… I’m exhibiting at Art Lab. Just got back from the First Friday opening. I’m not going to talk about my work, because that would be boring (by all means, go see it, and tell me what you think of my work). I will jot down some impressions of the Art Lab experience though.
I love the space that Art Lab is currently occupying. If you’re not familiar with the program, here’s the deal: Art Lab borrows unoccupied retail spaces downtown- for as long as they remain unleased. So they move around. It’s a win-win for creatives of all stripes, and for the property owners, whose spaces get shown off and protected from potential vandalism. Right now the Lab is in a big space on Linden St. White walls, track lighting. Love it. There are a couple features of the program which are unique for Fort Collins- and new experiences for me. For one, artists are asked to commit a couple of days doing on-site work- either creating art or doing demonstrations. It’s like a mini-residency. So, I’ll be back there tomorrow working on altering and expanding a wire sculpture installation. I think it will be really helpful for me to see the piece installed in a gallery setting, and respond to it in-situ (at home, I’ve been working on it piecemeal, so it’s harder to visualize).
So, the other feature of Art Lab is that it’s a multi-use space. The Art Lab folks like to see two or three creative things going on simultaneously. Now, this opens up some interesting potential for collaboration and synergy. But, based on my first night, I do have some constructive criticsm to offer. For First Friday, I shared the space with IMPACT Dance Company. There were some beautiful accidental juxtapositions: where the intertwined movements of the dancers echoed the intertwined forms of the wire constructions. However, there was also an accident of a different kind, where momentarily a dancer’s head occupied the same space as a fragile wall-piece. (Emergency repair accidentally led to an unpleasant exchange with lax hippie parents of youngsters unwilling to relinquish repair tools.) So…. I think letting the synergy happen accidently was problematic. All parties could have benefited from some advance planning, or (dare I say it) singular instead of multi-use of the space. The dancers didn’t have enough room. I didn’t have enough time to host an art opening during the very brief intermissions between dance performances. Audience members weren’t sure what was expected of them. It’s one of those moments when I wish I was British, so I could say “it all went a bit pear shaped.” (There, I said it anyway.) Art Lab crew take note: put your creative collaborators in touch with each other early in the process. Insure that everyone’s creative work is honored.
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