MEET GREET RINSE REPEAT
2010
";-) This little happy face is a digital hieroglyphic of the future. Where we study the early cave drawings of the Cro-Magnon, the three-key happy face is the crude beginning of our online, text-based art world. Who invented the winking happy face, anyway?...There is a chapter in art history devoted to text-based art - presenting characters in different compositions, giant, repeating, nonsensical, graphic - it is no new idea. Still, I am struck by the seed of the happy face that concludes so many e-mail correspondences, so young and so prevalent - a wink, a smile, a frown - it is a new way to express our emotions in a sterile and remote landscape. I just have to think this is the first step, the beginning of a new text-based iconography." --Greg Lundgren, The Vital 5 Cookbook
Cave paintings>Cuneiform>Hieroglyphics>Kanji characters>The Alphabet>Words>Sentences. Written communication has evolved with mankind over the centuries, and is, with the aid of technology, continuing to do so. Or is it? Some may say the written language is in a state of de-evolution. The advent of online social networking and hand-held devices has forced the modern populace to conform to a new communication rife with abbreviations, acronyms, and 'emoticons'. The written word is reverting back to a collection of symbols and characters. Is this a bad thing or a good thing? Should we be cynical or hopeful?
Arriving hand in hand with this new language is the mind-boggling ability and opportunity to communicate with our fellow man at the press of a button or the touch of a screen. We can make connections we would have never otherwise made. We can construct a history and a friendship before, and many times without, ever meeting face to face. Working as an artist (especially in the drearier than not Pacific Northwest) can feel like working in a vacuum, and this relatively new form of communication is extremely helpful to an artist such as myself struggling to navigate the Seattle art scene; learning about other artists and their work, making friends, giving praise, finding inspiration, becoming a part of the arts community.
With 'Meet Greet Rinse Repeat', I am asking fellow artists to communicate with me in our respective unique visual languages. I begin the conversation with a hand cut, futuristic and highly graphic character of invented symbolism. I hand this off to my collaborator for a reply, who does with it what he/she will, infusing the character with whatever creative spirit they deem fit. The collaborator then passes his/her visual response back to me for the conclusion of the interchange, which will include, in many cases, a resin coating to seal our work together.
I am approaching this project with a sense of anticipation and wonder. What will my collaborators and I say to each other? What will our work say as whole? Will this project bring our community of local artists closer together?
The Collaborati (in alphabetical order, with artist website links):
Sharon Arnold
Ben Beres
Susanna Bluhm
Cynthia Camlin
Daniel Carrillo
Jojo Corväiá
Chris Crites
Jed Dunkerley
Warren Dykeman
Eric Elliott
Cristin Ford
Erin Frost
Marie Gagnon
Cable Griffith
Noah Grussgott
Catherine Gua
Robert Hardgrave
Meg Hartwig
Sol Hashemi/Jason Hirata
Harold Hollingsworth
Etsuko Ichikawa
Amy Johnson
Claire Johnson
Shaun Kardinal
Ken Kelly
Counsel Langley
Margie Livingston
Greg Lundgren
Amanda Manitach
Ryan Molenkamp
Damon Mori
Saya Moriyasu
Molly Norris
Kate Protage
Jason Puccinelli
Ariana Page Russell
Bailey Russel
Erin Shafkind
Arun Sharma
Chris Sheridan
Scott Story
Liz Tran
Kimberly Trowbridge
Sylwia Tur
Joey Veltkamp
Laura Ward
Jennifer Zeyl
Opening April 1, 6-8pm
Runs through April 30th, 2010
MONARCH CONTEMPORARY
Previously located:
312 S. Washington Street
(in the Tashiro-Kaplan Building)
Seattle, WA 98104
Currently located:
444 South Indian Canyon Drive
Palm Springs, CA 92262
All photography by Shaun Kardinal
Overgrowth
Sharon Arnold
Broken
Ben Beres
I Want To See You Settle In To Yourself
Susanna Bluhm
Glyph Grotto
Cynthia Camlin
Contacts
Daniel Carrillo
Glyph N.6
Jojo Corväiá : digital video projection
I Don't Know What You're Talking About
Chris Crites
Jazira Glyph, Dubai, U.A.E.
Jed Dunkerley
Untitled
Warren Dykeman
Touch
Eric Elliott
Excavation
Cristin Ford
Cut and Run
Erin Frost
A Village
Marie Gagnon
Glyphland
Cable Griffith
Sparkle
Noah Grussgott
Sharp Relief
Catherine Gua
Love x Infinity
Yort Aug
Venison
Robert Hardgrave
Would I Like Me More If You Were As Toxic As He?
Meg Elissa Hartwig
Untitled
Sol Hashemi + Jason Hirata
Scratch/Cleanse
Harold Hollingsworth
Burn + Melt + Infused = Friends
Etsuko Ichikawa
Protect
Amy Johnson
Winding Road
Claire Johnson
Misspent Youth
Shaun Kardinal
Untitled
Ken Kelly
AM Radio
Counsel Langley
Wrapped and Sliced Glyph
Margie Livingston
Translation of a Glyph Handed To Me By Troy Gua
Greg Lundgren
Informe Paste
Amanda Manitach
All That Was Left Behind Was What They Made Together
Ryan Molenkamp
Tympanic!
Damon Mori
Drama on the Wall of the Basement Bar
Saya Moriyasu
U.S.A.
Molly Norris
Pulse
Kate Protage
Untitled
Jason Puccinelli
Untitled
Ariana Page Russell
Parasite
Bailey Russel
YES!
Erin Shafkind
Celestial Map
Arun Sharma
Babel
Chris Sheridan
I Don't Understand the Question. Please Rephrase It In the Form of a Symbol
Scott Story
You've Changed
Liz Tran
Each Other
Kimberly Cole Trowbridge
Channels
Sylwia Tur
El Condor Pasa
Joey Veltkamp
Graffiti
Laura Ward
Rare Cut
Jennifer Zeyl