moving forward and considering distribution

So, the gallery portion of this project has ended and I'd say I am about 1/3 of the way done with the drawings. If you want to see my pictures of the gallery closing and pictures of the other shows that GATE opened you can look at my pictures on flickr. And of course check up on good old GATE to see what's new in the Glendale art scene.

I have slowed but not stopped and I am trying to gain momentum to finish the next 2/3 of the drawing project. I'm starting to get all excited about the distribution component. I just read a sweet little blog post about geotagging that got my bonnet all full of bees regarding how I will hide everyone's amazing objects all over my neighborhood. You can read it here.

two views of the eiffel tower; influences part two

While I was making this drawing, I was thinking about two things:

1. I really want to go to France, specifically Paris. I am completely jealous of the lovely and fashionable woman for whom this sweet little statue was a treasured souvenir.

2. From a wholly different angle, I was thinking about the amazing documentary Married to the Eiffel Tower.

This is relevant to the project, I promise.

The film explores the relationship between human and object taken beyond its logical extreme.

If consideration/distribution were a class, watching Married to the Eiffel Tower would be extra credit. It adds a certain layer to the exploration of the meaning of objects.

valuable things

This is a fun one. A friend submitted a receipt from a birthday dinner with the values of delicious things he ate and drank clearly marked in euros. (He mailed it from Italy-- exotic). Also included was a lovely story of the birthday evening and the photobooth picture of himself and his (beautiful) fiance taken during the festivities. So many kinds of value in one little envelope. Memories and euros and experiences and documents. This is just the sort of thing I was hoping to investigate.

every time

I have to admit, every time I am working on one of these drawings, I hit a spot where I think "This one is ruined. I should throw it out and start over." But so far I haven't done it. I just keep drawing until it looks okay, or I go to bed and look at it again the next day. So far, the ones I am most pessimistic about turn out to be the ones that look really cool.

influences part one

Maira Kalman. What can I say? This woman is a genius of the quotidian. Everything she does is perfect. I have imaginary conversations with her in my head. On the decision of what to draw, she explains that she looks for things that are a little bit funny and a little bit heartbreaking at the same time. I think she and I agree that that is where the spark of life's meaning can be found. By all means look at her blog for the New York Times at the link above. It will probably change your life.

More Gallery Info

So, you can look in the windows of the gallery any time you want, but I'll be opening it up for close-up viewing

Friday, April 22 from 5-10PM

Friday, May 22 from 7-10PM

Friday, June 24 from 7-10PM

Friday, July 22 from 7-10PM

I'll just sit in there and draw with the doors open and my ipod on and if you missed the opening or you want to check out the new objects that have come in, you can stop by.

Again the address of the gallery is:

101 N. Brand Avenue Suite 230 Glendale, CA 91203

Its right next to the California Pizza Kitchen, you can't miss it.

Thanks Chester

So far, this is the only submission that has come in through my special art project mailbox. And it is totally worth it.

In case you can't decipher the handwriting, the envelope is addressed to Anna "Blowing Marxism to Pieces" Magnuson.

I'll keep the contents of the envelope a surprise because I haven't done the drawing yet. Really I should just draw the envelope.

The Process

I don't know about you, but I really like to look at works in progress. I like to see the process and the bones of a drawing or painting before its skin is all properly arranged.

And you can see that I really have been working on the project, not just taking your precious objects and hoarding them like Scrooge McDuck.

The one I'm working on here is a Shaquille O'Neale basketball card. I was a little intimidated by this one because it's flat and small and something that would never have occurred to me to draw. But that's the beauty of outsourcing all the thinking to my audience. It turned out well and I have a new and deeper relationship to Shaq than I ever expected.

Pardon a little digression, but since I'm talking about process I'd like to explain that relationship a little.

Whenever I draw anything, or anyone, it changes my relationship with my subject. I look at it/him/her so carefully and so objectively that I start to feel a love and connection with whatever it is. Its like meditating. There is a compassion that comes from being fully present with someone or something. Usually this kind of concentration is hard for me. In drawing I am at least fully connected to the surface of a person or thing.

The Opening

Well, this isn't exactly up-to-the minute news. But in my defense, I've been doing a lot of drawing and slacking off in the reporting/blogging department.

The opening went beautifully. So many cool people showed up and brought me really cool things. I can't believe I thought I would actually be drawing during the opening; I spent the entire time talking to people about the project. The amount of interest and support and positive energy was amazing! Thanks everybody!

Tucker's photos and description of the show are on the GATE website.

I'm in the movies!

Check out this really lovely short documentary that a photographer friend made about the project:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMxlOXyBzF8

It was a little bit terrifying at first to have the camera pointed at me, but vanity won the day. And I'm so pleased with the result.

Mail

It's official. The project has a PO box. If you are not handing me your object in person you can mail it to me at:

Anna Magnuson

PO Box 250174

Glendale, CA 91225

It begins. Then goes on and on.

Whenever I make work, I love imagining it in someone's house. It's like an ongoing conversation instead of just talking to myself. Here is the first drawing/exchange in this whole project in its new location on the refrigerator of Austin artist Chrissie Forbes.

Since I will be posting pictures of your objects in their new contexts, please feel free to send me pictures of your drawings in their new contexts as well.

How to Choose your Object

This is the tricky part: you need to decide on an object whose image is worth as much or more to you as the physical object. Of course the drawings are worth different things to different people; that's why this is fun.

If you want to give me something that has NO value, like that old piece of gum you've been working on all day, that's cool. You'll end up with a carefully rendered drawing of a piece of chewed up gum.

I suggest that you might want to choose something with sentimental value that you have no use for but have difficulty parting with. Maybe Gramma's chipped tea cup or the rubber bands from your last set of braces. The NKOTB shirt you wore when you had your first kiss. Your ex boyfriend's apartment key.

I will accept almost anything for this project. Here are the inevitable restrictions:

No living things

Nothing perishable or hazardous

Nothing over 20 lbs or bigger than a microwave

You might think you can shock me with something naughty or gross. You don't know me very well. Also, I work in a hospital so I am becoming less shock-able by the day. Just remember: you don't get it back.

How it works

Part I Consideration:

Each participant gives me an object in exchange for a drawing of that object. I will ask you to write the answer to the question "What is the value of this object" on a printed card.

You will keep the drawing, I will keep the object.

During the opening on April 22, 2011, I will be making the drawings on the spot, “live” if you will. Each drawing will take about 20 minutes to complete. The Gallery is a temporarily repurposed commercial space located at

101 N Brand Ave Suite 240 Glendale CA 91203

If you can't make it to the opening in Glendale in April, I am already making the object/drawing exchanges and I will continue this project even after the gallery opening. A post office box is coming soon so we can do this by mail.

Objects and participants’ answers will be displayed in the gallery for the duration of the show (part I)

This project is part of GATE projects. You can find more info about those art super-heroes at http://gateprojects.org/

The Drawings

The drawings are all in india ink on 9"x12" watercolor paper.

Definitions

Consideration: 6 : a RECOMPENSE, PAYMENT b. the inducement to a contract or other legal transaction; specif. : an act or forbearance or the promise thereof done or given by one party in return for the act or promise of another

Distribution: 1 : a the act or process of distributing b : the apportionment by a court of the personal property of an intestate. 2 a : the position, arrangement, or frequency of occurrence (as of the members of a group) over an area or throughout a space or unit of time