NOLA
Tired. But wow. What a great trip with dear friends. Still dealing with the sugar crash associated with the visit to Cafe Du Monde. So worth it.
Sunday, March 30, 2008 @ 12:08 AM gallery events
Nancy, George and Bess
Nancy, George and Bess is an exhibit that features local women artists working in all media and in all stages of their career. Named after the three lead female figures in Carolyn Keene's Nancy Drew series, Nancy, George and Bess encapsulates Dallas' own female talent in a cool Deep Ellum property, located at 2824 Main in Deep Ellum as a part of the Deep Ellum Arts Festival. From artists to have never had a show to artists who are collected widely, Nancy, George and Bess allows all stages and ages to emerge and share the same gallery space. Artists include: Zanne Hochberg, Angela Faz, Erica Felicella, Andrea Roberts, Jayme Nourallah, Ryann Rathbone, Kate Nelson, Kim Cadmus Owens, Alison Welsh and Cathey Miller.
Nancy, George and Bess is curated and produced by Sarah Jane Semrad (that's me!) and Erica Felicella (I suckered her in!). The event is presented by Deep Ellum Foundation and Deep Ellum Association. A free artists reception will be held on Thursday, April 3 from 7PM-9PM and will feature the sounds of Orbital Beebop.
The exhibit will also be open during Deep Ellum Arts Festival hours which are Friday, April 4 from 5PM-10PM; Saturday, April 5 from 11AM-10PM; and Sunday, April 6 from 11AM – 5PM.
A special BYOB party will be held on Saturday, April 5 from 10PM-1:30AM and feature all girl band Lovie and local girl rocker Heather Knox.
Erica and I have been cleaning the space for a couple of days now. Touching up paint and dreaming etc. So much of the nasty, gross prep work for this show reminds me of Primer - the warehouse show I produced a couple of years ago. These are always the most fun to do....
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 @ 07:38 AM gallery events
Giant Black Toobs
"More than a billion tons of trash are dumped into the ocean every year. Oceanographers have found a swirling miasma of consumer plastics‚ plastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic toys‚ the size of Texas in the pacific ocean[1]. Plankton, fish, birds, and marine mammals all ingest these plastics (and the chemicals they contain and leach), which in turn we ingest. Scientists are just beginning to research the long-term ways in which the chemicals used to make plastic interact with biochemistry, uncovering how plastics not only effect planetary health but are also linked to cancer, diabetes, and endocrine malfunctions. Like Andy Warhol said, we are indeed (and literally) all becoming plastic. In Warmth, Giant Black Toobs, I use solar power and ambient breezes to give life to the ever-present black plastic garbage bag. Polypropylene garbage bags, 50 feet tall by 30 inches in diameter, are inflated with air by allowing the wind to fill them or by running with them. One end is staked to the ground; the other end is free. The sun does the rest. Employing a similar principle to that of hot air balloons, the sun heats the air inside the toobs, and since hot air is less dense then cold air, the toobs become buoyant. Solar-produced buoyancy, breezes, and internal convection work to transform this symbol of the (American) cycle of consumption and waste into seemingly sentient creatures, live plastic hybrids whose choreography brings to mind the very sea creatures our epoch's mass of waste effects. This video documents Warmth, Giant Black Toobs at Volunteer Park in Seattle, Washington on August 17, 2007. [1] Our oceans are turning into plastic...are we? - Susan Casey, Feb 20, 2007, Best Life Magazine"
Thanks Jessica, for the link.
Monday, March 24, 2008 @ 07:27 AM finds
sj does a headstand on the grassy knoll
look ma! no hands! just forearms. miz andrea took this on our first shutterbabes outing a couple of weekends ago. pal erica felicella rocks for organizing this.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008 @ 08:07 PM proof that i'm a nerd
a break from the jobs
I don’t know what’s up with all the old job posts. I have many more – from waiting tables to selling kids clothes and working in more coffee shops than I can count. I marvel at how all of these opportunities have brought awareness and awakening. For that, I am thankful.
Moving on. I’m somehow involved in an email conversation (thanks Scott!) about what – I can’t even remember at the moment. It brought out one of my favorite games I play in my head: The game where you see a random artifact like a thumb tack on the kitchen floor and you start back tracking it. Like, the tack-that-had-purpose-and-held-a-receipt-in-place fell off the peg board and rolled under the table. Before that it was in a box in my desk. Before that it was on a shelf at the office supply store. Before that it was on a truck. Before that it was at a distribution center. Before that it was in an assembly plant. Before that it was in at least two different manufacturing plants – one for plastic and the other for metal alloys – half way across the world of course. Before that the metal(s) were in a mine and the plastic was ancient organic matter in the form of petroleum. And then putting that in the context of a myriad of products in the kitchen and well, my little brain hurts.
The amount of energy the thumb tack holds in the form of shipping, jobs, engineering, chemists, and ancient life is fairly astonishing.
And then a pal sent this link about a pet project by a gal named Miwa Koizumi. I think I might have screamed out loud a little bit.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 @ 10:02 PM proof that i'm a nerd
job part III
So the lab jobs clearly weren’t working out for me. That was the reality of my hard-earned and really, really expensive chemistry degree. Just when it seemed all hope was lost – I got a call about a potential gig up near the Galleria that seemed PERFECT. There was an opening in the “toppings” laboratory with a large, nationwide company that sells Pizza. In Huts, sometimes.
30 hours a week. Flexible days. Excellent pay and benefits. A healthy, but not cost-prohibitive commute. This was sounding great! I had just found out I was pregnant with my daughter (now 9) and this set up seemed ideal. The grin on my face must have been a mile wide!
Before I said “yes”, I had one question: What goes on in the “toppings” lab? I wanted to know. Various pizza toppings get quality tested. From green peppers to parmesean cheese, toppings must go through rigorous testing standards and sampled. There was one tiny, miniscule catch though. Toppings must be sampled. As in all toppings. And vegetarians need not apply, I was told.
Huh.
Those who know me well, know I have been a veggie since 15. By this time, I was wishing I was still in school and had gone after that philosophy degree like I wanted to.
More later. Happy Monday!
Monday, March 17, 2008 @ 02:26 PM proof that i'm a nerd
job part II
So when it poking puffed cheese snacks didn’t work out for me, I looked for work elsewhere. I applied with a company over in beautiful crime-free Irving that manufactures breast implants. The called me in for an interview and tour of the plant.
I met the plant manager at the entrance of a large, non-descript looking building with no windows. The lobby was plain and had a couple of green corn plants and maybe some tech mags, I can’t remember. The tour started by entering a long, wide hallway with large glass windows on either side looking into some really freaky high tech labs.
People in clumsy-but-sterile space suits were carefully assembling materials and using very fancy machines to pour liquid into membranes. The wide hall had turns along the way but always had windows looking into large labs where different phases of manufacture and assembly were happening. The space suits stopped at a certain point and ladies with hairnets and gloves appeared. Conveyor belts weaved through the space, slowly moving product through the labs. At the end of my tour, I was vaguely titillated at the prospect of wearing a space suit and I excitedly asked the man what my job would be. He smiled and said “Quality Control”.
Um, ok. So he takes me into another lab where cubicles were clustered in the center of the room with computers, papers, and random boobs acting as paperweights. He took me over to a hood and said as best as I can remember: “This will be your work station. A couple times an hour, you’ll pull an implant off the line after it’s been put into sterile packaging. You’ll first test the outer packaging using all this fancy stuff over here. Then you’ll take the implant and place it here in the hood. You hit this button and a platform will lower, slowing applying pressure to the implant until it bursts. You’ll record some deeply meaningful number and clean it all up before doing it again. And again. And again. By the way, you’ll work here from 11PM – 7AM.”
After the job description and the tour, I sortof smiled and “Wow. This is a lot to think about (not) and I’ll have to get back to you (not).”
I felt a little bewildered at turning down such lucrative, satisfying gigs twice in a row! Feeding grumbly tummies in Spain was one thing. Perpetuating the myth for people everywhere that big, fabulous boobs are mandatory was another. To convince not just men but women too that to imitate the size and shape of lactating breasts makes us more appealing was just too much. My training as a scientist and mathematician-ess was being wasted!
Maybe more tomorrow. It goes on and on folks. Have a great Saturday!
Saturday, March 15, 2008 @ 03:28 PM proof that i'm a nerd
job
I’ve told this story like a zillion times. And twice just this week. Time to post I suppose.
I got my degree from the University of Dallas over in Irving. Private Catholic school. My BA is in chemistry, although I did do intensive studies in philosophy, theology, art history, literature and the like. I lived in Europe and the full bit. Well, about half way through school, I realized I wanted to major in philosophy or art but it was too late with my degree plan. I’d had so much math, physics, and chemistry at that point, it wasn’t really going to work to switch mid-stream and still graduate on time. Besides, all the math and stuff comes really easy for me.
My first job out of college was at a certain snack chip company up in Frisco that also owns a certain soda company and a certain line of fast food places that serve everything from fried chicken to burritos. I had a security badge, a white lab coat, and a full lab at my disposal to quality test puffed cheese snacks… made with a “fat free oil” for the Spanish market. I don’t know if many folks remember this “fat free oil” that was popular years back, but it was fat free because your body doesn’t absorb it, therefore it comes on out as an “oily anal discharge.” Delightful.
So anyway, my lab was across the hall from the pretzel lab and my job was to receive large bag after bag of uncooked puffed cheese snack product and do testing. The first test was to do a moisture reading on a random 10 uncooked samples from each of the large bags coming up from manufacturing. Then on another 10 uncooked samples from each bag, I’d do a physical measurement – length, width, height. Last, I’d do a “crunch test”. I’d take all my carefully labeled samples down to another lab with big, fancy computers and such. I’d take one cheese puff out and place it on a platform where a probe connected to the ‘puter would come down and poke through the cheese puff. A graph would appear on a screen and I’d write down some number. Periodically, a team of really cute British guys would run up from manufacturing and see what different bags of samples were crunching.
Those were the uncooked puffed cheese products. I also had to do the same test on cooked and cheesed samples. After all the testing, I bagged them up for taste testing (and most likely bad stomach aches) for folks in Spain. I did this for three weeks. THREE WEEKS. And then I quit when they offered me a full time gig. That’s right, I did such a good job at this, they wanted me to stay.
And now here I am. I’m grateful for the experience and glad I’m using my skills to be ridiculously tedious and tidy for the common good and not oily butts. YAY! Have a great weekend folks.
Friday, March 14, 2008 @ 03:41 PM proof that i'm a nerd
Sitting here, being me
Speaking. I spoke in front of tons of people today. I wasn't nervous until half way through when I thought - 'wait, what am I doing here again? O.M.G.' Confession folks: I'm tired like I haven't been tired before. The absurdity of what I'm up to in life rattles me until my brains are scrambled - until a good night's sleep presents itself and I'm able to wake up refreshed and glorious again. I got a lot done today, but it's still physically painful when my to-do list totally runs down the page and I'm out of time. I'm rambling and showing weakness etc etc I know. Ok? I know, people. But last time I checked it was ok to be Sarah Jane.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008 @ 09:46 PM proof that i'm a nerd
Eva Plays
more updates later. it's all good folks. i've got a smile a mile wide.
Sunday, March 09, 2008 @ 12:28 PM my family
weekend
This online journal entry about my weekend will have to be made in installments. It was just too much. I'll start with Saturday. First up, a photo shoot for a cool show I'm producing (and suckered dear gal-pal Erica Felicella into co-producing with me) called 'Nancy, George and Bess' as a part of the Deep Ellum Arts Festival the first weekend in April. It's going to be amazing. Mark your calendars now. Here's a blurb about the show:
"Nancy, George and Bess: The exhibit features local women artists working in all media and in all stages of their career. Named after the three lead female figures in Carolyn Keene's Nancy Drew series, Nancy, George and Bess encapsulates Dallas' own female talent in a cool Deep Ellum property as a part of the Deep Ellum Arts Festival. From artists to have never had a show to artists who are collected widely, Nancy, George and Bess allows all stages and ages to emerge and share the same gallery space. Confirmed artists so far include: Zanne Hochberg, Erica Felicella, Andrea Roberts, Jayme Nourallah, Ryann Rathbone, Kate Nelson, Kim Cadmus Owens, and Cathey Miller."
And here's a possible postcard pic:
Then afters, it was freak-out time in getting ready for a fabulous party at PanAmerican ArtProjects in the Design District to announce the winners of 'Make Space for Art' - the La Reunion juried architecture program. The party was well attended and loads of fun. Here's a pic of Jason who's the lead of Escalator Maintenance Society - our musical performers of the evening:
This party was their second performance ever. They're amazing and have grown quite a bit since the debut about 3 years ago at my old gallery. Think toy pianos, typewriters, a toy drum kit, cello, bass, and an accordian. Fabulous.
After the party, it was dinner, celebratory drinks and amazing conversation. I even ran into an old friend I haven't seen in 12 years. I'll have to write about Sunday and today some other time. Amazing weekend.
Monday, March 03, 2008 @ 04:50 PM
party etc etc
above? Rick Brettell and Rick Lowe check out entries for "Make Space for Art".
So here's the scoop. The jury met last weekend. We announce the winner of the architecture dealio tomorrow (or tonight? check out the timestamp - haha) at PanAmerican ArtProjects in the Design District. Party is 6-8pm at 1615 Dragon. After staying up all night last night and tonight laying out handouts and proofing copy, I'm ready for this thing to happen. Most excited about the awesome works of William Cannings on display during our party and the music of Escalator Maintenance Society - they played at my old gallery ages ago.... but this time in addition to the toy pianos, they have a toy drum kit and a stand up bass is somehow involved. Oh yeah, and then we announce the winner to our architecture ideas competition. Am I coherent? I'm really tired. Good-night!
