Artstew.org

Lots of art in and around Lawrence this weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Thu, 06 May 2010 11:42:40 PDT

Friday May 7th

First Fridays Kansas City Artwalk - starting at 5:30 PM

New Shows Opening

"Dreaml&" works by Jeremy Rockwell, Jeromy Morris, and Yuri Zupancic at b Gallery, 2016 Main St., Kansas City, MO
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118455651516795
Opening Friday May 7th, 2010 - 6pm to 10pm

"Blind Faith" new work by Molly Murphy at Moxie Gallery, 1651 Washington, Kansas City, MO
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118609684831901
Opening Friday May 7th, 2010 - 7pm to 10pm

"H2O Kansas: Discover Our Ecosystems" works by Lisa Grossman, Barbara Waterman-Peters and Matt Needham at Alice C. Sabatini Gallery, 1515 Southwest 10th Avenue Topeka, KS 66604
For more information call 785-580-4515

Shows Ending (check them out before they are taken down)

Lawrence Public Schools Exhibition at The Lawrence Arts Center, 940 New Hampshire Street, Lawrence, KS 66044
lawrenceartscenter.org

Student Scholarship Exhibit at The Art and Design Gallery, University of Kansas, Jayhawk Boulevard, Lawrence, KS 66045
http://art.ku.edu/about/art_design_gallery.shtml

Saturday May 8th

New Shows Opening

Okay Mountain: Group Solo Show at Wonder Fair: Art Gallery, Shoppe & Studio, 803 1/2 Massachusetts St., Lawrence, KS 66044 (Above the Casbah)
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=114157015287775
Opening Saturday May 8th, 2010 - 6pm to 10pm

Josie Wrath and Sara Nutt Art at The Merc Cafe, 901 Iowa Street, Lawrence, KS 66044
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=109670785722459
Opening Reception Saturday May 8th, 2010 - 7pm to 9pm
This Show is currently up and ongoing until Sunday May 30th

1109 Gallery 1st Anniversary Reception (The current show is "Art by the Park" featuring work by area artists and Art in the Park artists.) at 1109 Gallery, 1109 Massachusetts St., Lawrence, KS 66044
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=120620467956590
Reception Saturday May 8th, 2010 - 7pm to 9pm

Sunday May 9th

Screening: "William S. Burroughs: A Man Within" at Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts Street, Lawrence, KS 66044
A new documentary film by Yony Leyser, a former KU student and Lawrence resident
Screening starts Sunday, May 9th, 2010 at 8pm

Artshow - H2O Kansas: Discover Our Ecosystems

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 09:34:23 PDT

H2O Kansas: Discover Our Ecosystems is an exploration of water for children of all ages. Experience the sights of Kansas waterways through the work of local artists Lisa Grossman, Barbara Waterman-Peters and Matt Needham. This exhibit features photographs, prints, watercolor, oil paintings and interactive water experiments.

H2O Kansas: Discover Our Ecosystems is on display at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library (map) from May 7 – June 18. This exhibit was made possible by funding from the Alice C. Sabatini Children’s Fund and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Exhibits and programs at the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery are always free, casual and open to the public. The Alice C. Sabatini Gallery is open the same hours as the Library:
Monday – Friday 9am – 9pm
Saturday 9am – 6pm
Sunday 12pm – 9pm

For more information call 785-580-4515

Information provided to Artstew by Matt Needham (website) and Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library

Earth Day Fashion Show at the Granada - April 24th, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 09:52:17 PDT

CELEBRATE! EARTH DAY - SPRING – WHILE CONTRIBUTING TO A GREAT ORGANIZATION!!!

Admission is $5.00 (all door proceeds goes to Audio-Reader).
Bring in a used CD and recieve a DOLLAR DISCOUNT!
Show and Sell Art at 7pm -- Fashion show at 8:30pm -- Dancing to Great Music
Benefit for Audio-Reader (102 W.11th Street, PO Box 847 Lawrence, KS 66044-0847)

Designers: Prodigy, Mixed Media, Haskell Nation, Ecoboutiquo, Player Gene Company,
Amuse Design, and others.
Shops: Creation Station, Beyond the Door, Vintage Van, White Chocolate, Social Service
League, Wild Man Vintage , etc.
Area Artists: TBA
Musicians: DJ IGGYBABY and AZ-ONE Band

Welcome to Asteroid Head Land... Dude

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:52:50 PST

New works, installation, performance & memorablia by Asteroid Head Art Club - www.asteroidhead.com

February 12th - March 7th, 2010
Opening Reception: Friday, Feb. 12th. 7-9 pm.

Lawrence Arts Center
940 New Hampshire St.
www.lawrenceartscenter.com

Video shot and edited by Artstew Design (design.artstew.org).

Exhibition Essay by Alaska Noyes
Asteroid Head Art Club is at it again. Their upcoming show at the Lawrence Arts Center, Welcome To Asteroid Head Land... Dude, is a tacit invitation to escape everydayness, at least momentarily.
The group has been doling out such invites since they formed in the spring of ‘09. Clad in matching uniforms they have set aside the lone artist in the studio art production model for something a little more tribal, a little more exuberant. Collaboration is at the heart of their work, often a multitasking of painting, sculpture, printmaking, and performance.
This is an outlet with a healthy dose of optimism and no dearth of absurdity. There is potential energy when Asteroid Head gets together, energy greater than the sum of its parts. It is in the interactions, the exchanges, the sharing of information, dreams, anecdotes, theories, and whims. It is in having things to do, not because you have to, but because you want to and you can. Nothing is too silly, too weird, or too ambitious to talk about, laugh about, consider, attempt. Asteroid Head Art Club, for its ragtag members, has become a site for experimentation, trials, tribulations, and camaraderie.
Asteroid Head Land is a physical embodiment of this group spirit. It is an unpredictable installation full of collaborative energy, absurdity, and papier-mâché. Welcome to Asteroid Head Land... Dude.

We Are Country Mice at The Replay Lounge - December 9th 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:28:28 PST

Video Shot by Joe Scholz (scholz.joe@gmail.com) and edited by Artstew Design (design.artstew.org)

http://www.myspace.com/wearecountrymice

Lite Loins and Weird Wounds at The Replay Lounge

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:22:25 PST

Video shot by The Rathaus (www.therathaus.com) in association with Artstew Magazine (www.artstew.org) - 1/16/2010

Think We Are Making Progress - Wondfair Art Gallery And How! November 14, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:22:25 PST

803 Massachusetts, Lawrence, KS.
Opening Reception November 14, 2009.
Show running Nov. 14 through Dec. 6, 2009.
Live Music by Deadman Flats (www.deadmanflats.com).
Video shot by The Rathaus (www.therathaus.com).
Video edited by Artstew Design (www.artstew.org).
Artists: Jason Barr, Christopher Bostwick, Thayer Bray, Maria Calderon, Kelly John Clark, Christa Dalien, George Demurra, DJG, Eric Dobbins, Timothy Dwyer, Barrett Emke, Danny J. Gibson, Amber Hansen, Andrew Hoffman, Matthew Huff, Hannah Hurrle, Allicia Kelly, Amy Kligman, Kenny Kupfer, Bri Lauterbach, Justin Marable, Sammy Owen, Jessica Owings, Payton, Lee Piechocki, Brock Potucek, Chris Rexroad, Clinton Ricketts, Mark Todd, Bernadette Zacharias, Zaguar

New Artstew Magazine - Issue #8

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:22:25 PST

This issue features the art of Ben Dory and Rebecca Jackson. Check out their full interviews conducted by Scott Stewart below.

Ben Dory's work can be seen at the Bourgeois Pig, E 9th St. Lawrence, KS, October 26th - Opening 5pm - 7pm.

Rebecca Jackson's work can be seen at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 New Hampshire Lawrence, KS, December 5th - Holiday Show 10am - 6pm.

Ben Dory Interview

Scott: Please tell me a little about your upbringing, where you lived, school experience, and how you became interested in art.

Ben: I grew up in Prairie Village - the burbs. We were on the edge of the city next to State Line and spent much time around Westport, The Plaza, and Downtown. Everyone in my nuclear family is involved in the arts or crafts in one way or another. It was a good balance of craftsmanship and direct creative output around our house. We had piles of supplies and books laying around for our disposal. With this as a base and general curiosity and suburban teenage angst, I began exploring subcultures and substances. The world at large has always been of interest as well. This led me to take language classes and study abroad to Japan and Finland. While I can't pinpoint the influence of these places on my life, there has been a profound impact; the world has always seemed very large. It seems like a good dose of overexposure (good and bad) that has led me to the impractical pursuit of art and design. Within this realm, a person can feel fully satisfied and productive through the completion of each piece. Its an inward endeavor but every creation is a mirror of my views, whether it is clear or not.....to me or anyone else.

Scott: Where did your style of drawing come from and where do you see it going?

Ben: I've always drawn. It's fun and private. Kid doodles, to geometric creatures by Ed Emberly, to poor but ambitious copies of masters' works with a good dose of still life and portraiture in a younger life. I've preferred the underdrawings of paintings to the finished work, ink and graphite to oils or pastels. Brian Froud (Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, Faeries), Yoshitaka Amano (Vampire Hunter D), Jhonen Vasquez (JTHM, Squee), and Hiroaki Samura (Blade of the Immortal) have been vastly influential. It has always been mind blowing to create something singularly unique on a page, even if it is a copy. Amidst all this, I've fallen into a clean, minimal style. It's more immediately informative to me. I've developed my own visual vocabulary that is noticeably evolving.

Scott: You are thinking about doing a children's book based on your drawings/charactors, where did that idea come from and how do you see your work translating into a children's book?

Ben: The short, minimally worded, concise story line of children's' books is the most appealing aspect of the format at this point simply because many of the images that are important to the book would be visually jarring to the kids. I've been surprised so far, though. Kids seem to dig psychedelic inspired bizarre imagery. A goal is to have a book that can do something different for all age groups. You know....like the Sneetches. Before that comes together, I think a coloring books would be nice to have around; there's a lot of white space to fill in, and it's interesting to see what people do with that.

Scott: How did you get into making jewelry? Is the creative process and your inspirations similar or totally different then your 2-d work? What type of people are buying your jewelry?

Ben: Metalsmithing, not specifically jewelry, stems from a desire to work with my hands and understand construction. I appreciate well made things that are functional, practical, and look cool. I'm into the fact that a person can manipulate metal in almost any way. To understand some of the processes is rewarding. There's not many materials like that. The process for the 2-d and 3-d work are different but tedious and satisfying in similar ways. The inspiration is from a similar place - strong lines and geometries on the most base level. Balance of space is always important. The reaction and conception by the viewer is obviously different, but I want to work towards marrying the two worlds. Silver or copper formed versions of the the characters sounds very appealing. Bronze cast and vinyl versions sounds rad too. The type of people who buy my metal work appreciate the hand made. The jewelry is generally large and bold and heavy. Copper is generally used, but that's only because I can't afford to do everything in silver.

Scott: Where did the theme "Awkward Encounters" of your Pig show originate from, and are you showing just 2-d work or 3-d work as well?

Ben: "Awkward Encounter" has been an ongoing title for this body of work. Whether it's the characters and situations on the page or the viewers interacting with the pieces, I've always felt that there is a discomfort created on some levels. The negative space, melancholy expressions, and/or humanoid characters could be culprits. Much of the work is done "stream of consciousness" style, but with a consistent style and repeated imagery, a dialogue is being created that gives myself and the viewer a little more information each time a piece is completed. "Awkward Encounters" is a 2-d show only, but I'm looking forward to having dimensional mixing in the future.

Rebecca Jackson Interview

Scott: Please tell me a little about yourself, where your from, and your background in school/art, etc.

Rebecca: I'm from Olathe, KS, but live in the country between Baldwin and Lawrence now. I have no formal art training of any kind. I was an English major with a Creative Writing minor, had a few run-of-the-mill administrative and marketing jobs, until I became a mother. Now, I stay at home with three boys (ages 7, 5, and almost 3), and I've found I REALLY need an outlet.

About two years ago, I became interested in mosaics through a friend's wedding where there were mosaiced stones outside their house. So I began to mosaic (tables, wall art, frames, etc.), but felt like I was looking for something more. It was a year ago that I happened to see a found object robot on Etsy.com and instantly fell in love with the medium. (It was about that time that I also happened across steampunk jewelry on Etsy.) Since both the robots and steampunk jewelry involved taking things apart and putting them back together in a new way, they seemed to be a natural pairing for me. While I still mosaic occasionally, I've really found my niche in the robots and steampunk jewelry. The robots are particularly my passion. I love the hands-on, physical nature of them, and I get to write stories about each one of them (which satisfies my creative writing side).

Scott: Where do you find the objects that you use to create your robots and jewelry?

Rebecca: I try to recycle nearly everything I use in my robots. I look online at vintage sites to find older items, but I also go to antique malls, thrift stores, and occasionally garage sales. It's important to me that everything--or as close as I can get it (even in screws and nuts)--is recycled. This can be particularly challenging with arms and legs, but I also enjoy the challenge and the creativity it unexpectedly brings. Plus, it's one thing that sets me apart from many other robot builders who use a mix of recycled and new.

My jewelry is made from vintage watch and clock parts that I mainly find online or at antique malls. Some of the findings and pendant plates are new, but the featured piece is always vintage. I also try to buy mainly vintage chains to incorporate into the piece. Since steampunk is a marriage of the old and new, I try to do just that in the pieces.

Scott: I read the article on the Art 365 blog, and there is a description of your Ebeneezer -- The Old Timer Robot, as well as descriptions for other robots on your ETSY, do you create a story for all your characters and does the idea for the character come first or after the piece is done?

Rebecca: All my robots have a story to tell. (Writing the story is almost the best part.) It seems to come as I'm creating the piece; sometimes I might have a glimmer of an idea before I start assembling the robot, but mostly it comes after completion and I feel the personality it has as a whole. I try to incorporate the story into what the robot is made of so that it's not just one-off personality traits, but a real incorporation of the robot's specific characteristics. The hardest thing is watching some of my favorites sell because I get so attached to them after writing their story.

Scott: Some of your robots also have some functionality for storage, is that something you strive for?

Rebecca: All my robots have some sort of functionality. This is another thing that sets me apart from other robot artists right now. Mostly that functionality comes through in their storage abilities, but I have also made a couple of robot lamps and a robot ipod player (think speakers as legs and an ipod

docking station in the head). Even my Bitty Bots have storage in their little bodies. I want the robots to be more than a piece of art. Sure, they're fun to look at, but I want to have an answer to the inevitable question, "What do I do with it?" So the functionality of the piece is central to its making.

Scott: Your jewelry has a specific look, do you have a vision of the final product, or does is it a more organic process?

Rebecca: Making my jewelry is definitely an organic process. Often, I put things together at least two or three times before I find the right fit. It's something I feel more than know. I definitely like Victorian age things and try to bring that into many of my pieces, but I also just try to showcase the gears and intricate clock workings as best as I can.

Scott: Who do you design your jewelry for? The modern nerd girl/guy or do you think that the style of your jewelry could as easily attract all types of fashionista. (I might have answered my own question, but any insight into how you view your esthetic and your views on fashion would fit here)

Rebecca: I do think my jewelry attracts a wide variety of people. I definitely appeal to the modern nerd, but I also have people from all walks of life stop to look at it. I think people are excited to see something different from the standard jewelry out there.

It's hard for me to say what my views of fashion are because I'm distinctly unfashionable (you can ask anyone who knows me). I hardly even wear jewelry, but something about the steampunk genre really appeals to me. I read a lot of Victorian age novels growing up (and as an English major), and that could be a bit of an influence on my interest in steampunk. It's just cool to bring something old (but not simply "retro") into something new and create an homage to a time when things were simpler.

Miscellaneous Info:

I currently have robots and steampunk jewelry for purchase at WearHaus, a boutique in the Crossroads District, and I'll be having my first trunk show at WearHaus on Friday November 6th from 6-10pm. It's FREE & Open to the public (WearHaus Studios, 1800 Central Suite 204, KCMO 64108). This will be my first "featured" event.

I also have robots available for purchase at "It's About Time" (816 Massachusetts, Lawrence).

My next show (besides the trunk show at WearHaus) is December 5th at the Lawrence Holiday Show, put on by the Lawrence Art Guild.

My company name is Remnants, though I call my robots RemBots. If you need more photos, go to www.flickr.com/remnantsbyrj or search Facebook for Remnants by RJ.

Fashion Monster 3: Adorn of the Dead Fashion Show

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:22:25 PST

Artstew is proud to present our video recap of the highly successful Fashion Monsters 3: Adorn of the Dead which raised funds in support of L.I.N.K.

This video was produced by Artstew Magazine in association with The Rathaus (www.therathaus.com)
Cameramen: Scott Stewart and Joe Scholz
Photos: Scott Starrett and Scott Stewart

Fashion Monsters 3: Adorn Of The Dead Preview/Rehearsal

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:22:25 PST

Fashion Monsters 3: Adorn Of The Dead Preview/Rehearsal at the Replay Lounge in Lawrence, KS, September 26th, 2009. The fashion show is at the Replay Lounge (946 Massachusetts in Lawrence, KS) on Saturday, October 3.
Sponsored by Wild Man Vintage and The Rathaus (www.therathaus.com). Video shot by Artstew Magazine (www.artstew.org), interviews by Scott Stewart, cameramen; Joe Scholz and Sara Rock.

Wavves perform "No Hope Kids" at the Jackpot in Lawrence, KS September 15th, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:44:54 PDT

Video shot by Artstew Design in association with The Rathaus.

Ad Astra Arkestra perform "Slowbird Blues" at the Jackpot Lawrence, KS September 9th 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:40:58 PDT

Video shot by Artstew Design in association with The Rathaus.

Woods at the Jackpot Lawrence, KS September 9th, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:38:12 PDT

Video shot by Artstew Design in association with The Rathaus.

The Fiery Furnaces "The End Is Near" WNYC Radio Soundcheck Contest Entry

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 09:30:46 PDT

Check out our entry into WNYC video contest for The Fiery Furnaces "The End Is Near", then go to WNYC YouTube page and give us a vote! Special thanks to The Rathaus for all their help.

We Are Country Mice at the Jackpot - Lawrence, KS

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 09:31:04 PDT

Video shot by Artstew Design & Joe Scholz (scholz.joe@gmail.com). Check more from We Are Country Mice on their Myspace - www.myspace.com/wearecountrymice

Mika Miko at the Jackpot - Lawrence, KS

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:32:07 PDT

Video shot by Artstew Design in association with The Rathaus.

Strange Boys at the Jackpot - Lawrence, KS

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:32:07 PDT

Video shot by Artstew Design in association with The Rathaus

Artist: Megan Eyssell

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:22:25 PST

Megan Eyssell - Kansas City - Website: meganeyssell.blogspot.com

I'm currently a candidate for a BFA in sculpture at the Kansas City Art Institute. A great deal of my work deals with the shape of industry. The internal understandings and workings of a ship yard present a visual playground for an outsider. I try to bring that visual interest and shape to my work in reference without imitating a functioning member of an industrial landscape. More recently I have been exploring the shape of my own personal data, collected from journals and travel logs , in mathematical equations that jump off of a page into a form.

Artist: Cody Kiyabu

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:22:25 PST

Cody Kiyabu - Hawaii - Website: www.codykiyabu.com

I'm a self taught mixed media artist from hawaii. I'm constantly creating work, from small scale drawings to large scale paintings. A large portion of my work inspired by life experiences. There's a lot more I have planned in the works including comics, even larger scale murals, sculpture, and much more.

Penelope Ann - A Play in One Scene by Joel Reavis

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:33:21 PDT

Penelope Ann - A Play in One Scene by Joel Reavis
reavisjoel@yahoo.com

Synopsis:
A comedy of manners about two high society bachelors who do not want to marry a respectable woman for one enjoys the want to sleep with many respectable women while the other enjoys the chase and allure to respectable women.

Unfortunately for the two bachelors, respectable women now want nothing to do with either of them, and high society of the city do not take the two bachelors seriously. So to once again attract respectable woman and con high society to take each seriously they plot to marry the last respectable woman who is friendly towards them.

Production history:
A stage reading August 2006 at Just Off Broadway Theatre in Kansas City, MO.

Cast of Characters
Herman: A high society gentleman whose reputation for being a bachelor has caught up to him.

Henry: A high society gentleman whose reputation for being a bachelor has caught up to him, too.

A waiter: She is Penelope Ann’s childhood orphan friend who remembers the cold winter night that Penelope Ann saved her life (and eight other orphans) from the fire that burned down their orphanage.

Scene
An upper class restaurant.

Time
Perhaps the turn of the twentieth century.

ACT I

SCENE I

SETTING: For a practical purpose there is one, square, two-person restaurant table dressed with two empty water glasses and any objects a designer sees fit center stage. Companying the restaurant table is a chair stage left and another stage right for a profile view of the players when seated. Centered upstage and downstage is a little table. The downstage table has a telephone centered on it and the other one is bare.

AT RISE: The stage is dark. FADE-IN sounds of people dining. Lights up center stage. FADE-IN soft thunder sounds as the WAITER, standing upstage of the restaurant table, places a restaurant menu on the right side of the table and the other on the left. Lights up stage right. HERMAN enters stage right. Lights up stage left and FADE-OUT all sounds as the WAITER crosses to HERMAN.

WAITER 
Evening, sir. A table for one tonight?

HERMAN
I am meeting a respectable woman. A Miss Penelope Ann.

WAITER
Penelope Ann? I know Penelope Ann. We were childhood friends who grew up together in this city’s only orphanage.

(HERMAN sighs)

HERMAN
Really?

WAITER
True. In fact Penelope Ann is the reason I’m alive today.

(HERMAN looks at his watch)

I-1-2

HERMAN
Really?

WAITER
 It’s true. She saved all of us orphans—nine of us, by single handedly carrying two and even three of us at a time
out of a fire that burned down our orphanage that cold winter night. Penelope Ann wanted to save the orphanage’s pet cat, but it was too late.

HERMAN
It is fascinating to meet a woman from Penelope Ann's unfortunate upbringing.

WAITER
Penelope Ann is doing extraordinarily well for herself.

HERMAN
Penelope Ann made arrangements for me to dine with her. Has she arrived yet?

WAITER
 No, sir—Penelope Ann is not here yet. A table for two?

HERMAN
That is right.

WAITER
 Follow me, sir.

(The WAITER leads HERMAN to the restaurant table, and HERMAN sits on the stage left table chair. HERMAN looks at menu as HENRY enters from stage right. The WAITER crosses to HENRY)

WAITER
Evening, sir. A table for one tonight?

HENRY
No, I am dining with a respectable woman tonight whose name is Penelope Ann. She invited me to meet her here this thundering, spring night.

(The WAITER looks to HERMAN and then back to HENRY)

I-1-3

HENRY(continued)
Is she already here?

WAITER
 No, sir—Penelope Ann is not here yet.

HENRY
Pity.
(Notices HERMAN)
A gentleman I know is seated right over there. Do you mind if I have a conversation with him while I wait for my dinner companion?

WAITER 
No—sir. I don’t mind at all.

(HENRY crosses to HERMAN as the WAITER crosses and exits stage left)

HENRY
Hello, Herman, how are you?

HERMAN(standing)
Splendid, Henry. Henry, How are you doing?

(HERMAN and HENRY shake hands)

HENRY
Terrific.

HERMAN
Please, have a seat for a moment—but only for a moment for a respectable woman will arrive here any second. It is our first date.

HENRY
A respectable woman I am dating for the first time is meeting me here soon, as well.

HERMAN
Wonderful. Please, have a seat.

(HERMAN and HENRY sit)

I-1-4

HERMAN(continued)
Henry.
(pause)
Henry, I apologize for asking such a personal question, but has bachelorhood become as big a problem for you as for me?

HENRY
I must admit my reputation for being a bachelor has caught up to me.

HERMAN
Me too. One of my problems for being a bachelor is a long trail of scorned, respectable women who want nothing more than to hang me from a noose.

HENRY
I suffer the same problem.

HERMAN
My respectable woman who is arriving here any second is the last one who will not curse me when at private galas.

HENRY
My respectable woman who is meeting me here is the only one who I can approach at a ballroom dance and not have champagne tossed on my face.

HERMAN
Either our own respectable woman is completely naïve to our history of ill-repute…

HENRY
Or our respective respectable woman knows of our past bachelor escapades, but is kind-hearted. I prefer to believe the former, of course.

HERMAN
So do I. Henry. Henry, the other problem of mine is our city’s high society not taking me seriously because I will not marry a respectable woman.

HENRY
That is the other problem I suffer from.

I-1-5

HERMAN
But I do not want to marry! Marriage will not satisfy my sexual demands of needing to sleep with many respectable women.

HENRY
I do not want to marry either. It is my allure to and the chase of respectable women that I have always been interested in.

HERMAN
Henry. Henry, how will we ever solve these problems of ours?

HENRY
If we did not care of our high social rank we could solve one problem by pursuing women of lower social rank.

HERMAN
Are you suggesting we pursue women of the night?

HENRY
Of course not. But there are middle-class women to take advantage of.

HERMAN
I suppose there are. But Henry. Henry, I care of my high social rank.

HENRY
I, as well.
(pause)
I think I have a good idea, Herman--and it will solve both our problems.

HERMAN
What is your good idea?

HENRY
Marry.

HERMAN
Marry?

HENRY
Certainly. Knowing each of us have only one respectable woman left in our life, marrying her is best.

I-1-6

HERMAN
How will being married to one respectable woman satisfy my sexual demands of needing to sleep with many respectable women?

HENRY(smiles)
Respectable women see married gentlemen quite attractive, so they will once again find each of us quite attractive when married, Herman.

HERMAN(smiles)
I understand what you are saying now.

HENRY
We can, also, escape a high society coup de grâce to never take us seriously by finally marrying and appearing faithful to a respectable woman.

(The dialogue continues as the WAITER enters carrying a pitcher of water with her right hand, and begins to cross to HERMAN and HENRY, but the telephone rings--so she crosses to it instead. As the dialogue continues between HERMAN and HENRY, the WAITER will execute the following actions and then cross to HERMAN and HENRY and begin pouring water into HERMAN’S water glass just as HENRY begins to stand: the WAITER stands upstage of the little table and places the pitcher of water on the right side of the telephone and then picks up the handset with her right hand and speaks—barely audible—into the receiver. The WAITER transfers the handset from her right hand to her left hand and then takes a pen and small piece of paper from her shirt pocket, places the paper on the right side of the little table and writes a message on the paper. The WAITER simultaneously places the handset on the cradle as she places the pen and small piece of paper back in her shirt pocket. The WAITER picks up the pitcher of water with her right hand and crosses to HERMAN and HENRY and stands downstage of the restaurant table)

I-1-7

HERMAN
I definitely understand what you are saying, Henry. Henry, you are brilliant! There is certainly no time to waste, so I shall propose marriage to my respectable woman right before dessert is served.

HENRY
I, as well.

HERMAN
And either our respectable woman will say “I do” and we begin a new life…

HENRY
Or say “I do not” and we remain permanently disgraced for the way we have lived our life. Good luck to you, Herman.

HERMAN
Good luck to you, Henry.

(As HENRY begins to stand, the WAITER pours water into the water glass in front of HERMAN and then into the water glass in front of HENRY)

WAITER(as she pours the water)
Sirs. My childhood friend, Penelope Ann, just left a message with this restaurant to give to her male dinner companion.

HERMAN(to WAITER)
What message did, hopefully, my bride to be leave me?

HENRY
Penelope Ann is the respectable woman who you are going to propose marriage to?

HERMAN
That is right.

HENRY(to HERMAN)
I, as well.

WAITER(to herself)
Uh-oh.

I-1-8

(HENRY sits back on the chair. The dialogue continues as the WAITER moves on HENRY’S side to cross upstage center—standing downstage of the little table, and places the pitcher of water on it)

HERMAN(quietly to HENRY)
You cannot propose marriage to her. She is the only respectable woman who will not curse me when at private galas.

HENRY(quietly to HERMAN)
And she is the only respectable woman who I can approach at a ballroom dance and not have champagne tossed on my face.

HERMAN
Waiter.

(The WAITER crosses to HERMAN and HENRY and stands upstage of the restaurant table)

HERMAN(continued)
Is the message for a gentleman named Herman, or Henry?

WAITER
Penelope Ann told me to give the message to her male dinner companion.

HERMAN and HENRY(to the other)
Me. No, not you. Me!

WAITER
 I believe Penelope Ann accidentally scheduled a dinner date with each of you this evening since she is completely unaware that both of you are here. And I did not have the courage to tell her of her gaffe.

HERMAN 
What is the message?

WAITER
I dictated her message word-for-word. Shall I read her message aloud?

(HERMAN and HENRY nod their head. The WAITER pulls the small piece of paper from her shirt

I-1-9

pocket with her right hand and audibly reads the message)

WAITER
“Dear, excellent friend…”

HERMAN and HENRY(to the other)
Referring to me, of course.

WAITER
”Dear, excellent friend, I have unhappy news to tell you—which I hope will be enough to excuse my late arrival to dinner. In short, I am on the brink of losing my entire fortune in a foreign stock market. Unless there is an up-swing in my stocks within the next few moments I will with out doubt live the rest of my life in poverty. See you momentarily. Your friend—Penelope Ann.”

(The WAITER puts the small piece of paper back in her shirt pocket)

HERMAN and HENRY(to the other)
In poverty?

(HERMAN and HENRY gesture to quiet the other in the presence of the WAITER. HERMAN holds up his water glass to the WAITER)

HERMAN
Waiter. Could you pour some more water into my water glass?

WAITER
More water?

(HENRY holds up his water glass to the WAITER)

HENRY(to WAITER)
I, as well.

WAITER
“I, as well?” (to HERMAN and HENRY) But both water glasses are already full.

I-1-10

HERMAN
Waiter. Pour the water out of both water glasses and refill them again.

(The WAITER shrugs her shoulders. As the dialogue continues between HERMAN and HENRY the WAITER will execute the following actions and then turn around just as HERMAN and HENRY begin to cross stage right: the WAITER simultaneously takes both water glasses from HERMAN and HENRY and crosses upstage center and stands downstage of the little table. Into the pitcher of water the WAITER pours the water out of the water glass she holds in her right hand and then pours out the other water glass. The WAITER simultaneously places both water glasses on the table and then picks up the pitcher of water with her right hand and pours the water back into the water glass on her right and then into the other water glass. The WAITER places the pitcher of water back on the little table and will simultaneously pick up both water glasses before turning around)

HENRY(quietly to HERMAN)
I had no idea you wanted to attract respectable women and fool high society into respecting you by marrying a pauper.

HERMAN(quietly to HENRY) 
Penelope Ann is yours. How will respectable women find me attractive, or high society take me seriously if married to a penniless woman. Further, being a bachelor of disgrace is one thing while becoming the laughing stock of everyone by marrying a bag lady is completely another.

(HERMAN stands)

HENRY
Where are you going?

HERMAN
 I am leaving, so you may have a quiet dinner with your Penelope Ann.

(HENRY stands)

I-1-11

HENRY
No. I will excuse myself in order to let you and Penelope Ann dine together.

(HERMAN and HENRY begin to cross stage right just as the WAITER turns around)

WAITER
Your refilled water glasses, sirs.

HERMAN(to WAITER)
I am sorry, but I must be going.

WAITER
You must be going?

HENRY(to WAITER)
I, as well.

WAITER
“I, as well?” (to HERMAN and HENRY) But Penelope Ann is to arrive any minute…

FADE-IN soft thunder sounds.

WAITER
…And there is the awful lightning and thundering outside.

(HERMAN and HENRY sigh. FADE-OUT the soft thunder sounds. HERMAN and HENRY cross and sit back on the particular chairs as the WAITER crosses to stand upstage of the restaurant table and places a water glass in front of HENRY and the other water glass in front of HERMAN. The telephone rings, and the WAITER moves on HERMAN’S side to cross downstage center—standing upstage of the little table, and picks up the telephone’s handset with her right hand)

WAITER(into receiver)
Thank you for calling café sur la boulevard. How may I help you? Yes. Uh-huh.

(The WAITER covers the receiver with her left hand)

I-1-12

WAITER(to HERMAN and HENRY)
It’s Penelope Ann.

(HERMAN and HENRY groan)

WAITER(continued)
Should I tell her that both of you are here?

HERMAN(to WAITER)
I am not here.

WAITER
You’re not here?

HENRY(to WAITER)
I, as well.

WAITER
“I, as well?”

(The WAITER shrugs her shoulders as HERMAN and HENRY drink from their water glass. The WAITER removes her left hand and speaks into the receiver)

WAITER(into receiver)
Yes, I can give him a message.

(HERMAN and HENRY hide behind their menu as the WAITER transfers the handset from her right hand to her left hand and then takes out the pen and the small piece of paper from her shirt pocket with her right hand and places the other side of the paper on the right side of the little table and writes a message on it)

WAITER(continued)
I’ll see he gets the message. Goodbye.

(The WAITER simultaneously places the handset on the cradle and puts the pen back in her shirt pocket. The WAITER picks up the small piece of paper with her right hand and then turns around)

WAITER(continued)
I’ve another message from Penelope Ann.

I-1-13

(HERMAN and HENRY sigh. The dialogue stops as the WAITER simultaneously moves on HENRY’S side to cross upstage center to the little table as she transfers the small piece of paper from her right hand to her left hand. The WAITER picks up the pitcher of water with her right hand, crosses to and stands upstage of the restaurant table. The WAITER pours water into the water glass in front of HENRY and then into the water glass in front of HERMAN)

WAITER(continued)
Shall I read the message?

(HERMAN and HENRY shake their head. The WAITER places the pitcher of water on the restaurant table and then transfers the small piece of paper from her left hand to her right hand. HERMAN and HENRY will slowly lower their menu after the word “stocks” is spoken)

WAITER(continued)
I’ll read it anyway. Penelope Ann’s message is: “Dear, excellent friend, I had to tell you immediately that there was a remarkable up-swing in my stocks within the last few moments of the market. I am certain to purchase another home for our city’s orphans to live in for I am worth twice as much now than when I woke this morning. See you shortly to celebrate. Your friend—Penelope Ann.”

(The WAITER puts the small piece of paper back into her shirt pocket as HERMAN stands and places his right hand on the WAITER’S shoulder)

HERMAN
Waiter. When your childhood friend Penelope Ann enters she will obviously only accept one marriage proposal.

WAITER
I understand.

HERMAN
To ensure Penelope Ann says “I do” to the proper gentleman, I will write you a check
(takes out his checkbook and pen)

I-1-14

for one thousand dollars if you kindly escort that gentleman out of this restaurant.

WAITER
One thousand dollars?

(HENRY stands and places his left hand on the WAITER’S shoulder)

HENRY
Waiter. He is not gentlemanly enough a person for Penelope Ann to say “I do” to. I am. Let me make you a counter offer
(takes out his checkbook and pen)
of two thousand dollars if you guide him out of here.

WAITER
Two thousand dollars?

(HERMAN pulls the WAITER close to him)

HERMAN
Waiter. I am hesitant to tell you this, but that gentleman is in fact trying to marry Penelope Ann in order to…

(HERMAN whispers into the WAITER’S ear)

HENRY(nervously to WAITER)
What is he whispering to you?

WAITER(to HERMAN)
That is horrible! There is no need for you to cut me a check. I’ll gladly throw that awful, bad man to the curb for attempting to use Penelope Ann in such bad ways.

(HENRY puts his checkbook and pen away as the WAITER turns to HENRY. The WAITER, with her right hand, pins HENRY’S right arm behind HENRY’S back. HENRY screams. The WAITER attempts to push HENRY stage right, but HENRY resists and then frees himself)

HENRY
Waiter. You are sadly mistaken.
(points to HERMAN)

I-1-15

He is the one who wants to lead Penelope Ann up the aisle, so he can…

(HENRY whispers into the WAITER’S ear)

HERMAN(nervously to WAITER) What ever is he telling you?

WAITER(to HENRY)
That is horrible! There is no need for you to cut me a check. I’ll gladly throw that awful, bad man to the curb for attempting to use Penelope Ann in such bad ways.

(HERMAN puts his checkbook and pen away as the WAITER turns to HERMAN. The WAITER, with her right hand, pins HERMAN’S right arm behind HERMAN’S back. HERMAN screams. The WAITER attempts to push HERMAN stage right, but HERMAN resists. The WAITER stops and lets go of HERMAN’S arm. The WAITER looks to HENRY and then to HERMAN. HERMAN and HENRY point to the other)

HERMAN and HENRY
Throw that bad man to the curb, waiter.

WAITER
I may be just a waiter, but I’m no dummy. Both of you are setting out to use my childhood friend!

HERMAN and HENRY(to WAITER)
No. Absolutely not. No!

(The telephone rings. All players turn their heads toward the telephone. The WAITER continues to speak as she moves on HERMAN’S side to cross downstage to the little table and stands upstage of it)

WAITER
I wonder if that is my childhood friend who both of you are wanting to marry to once again attract respectable women and con high society to take the lucky bridegroom seriously. It’s sick. Sick!

(The WAITER picks up the handset with her right hand)

I-1-16

WAITER(into receiver)
Thank you for calling café sur la boulevard. How may I help you? Yes. Uh-huh.

HERMAN(gentle and kind)
Who ever is it my good, waiter, friend?

HENRY(gentle and kind)
Are you conversing with Penelope Ann on the telephone?

(The WAITER covers the receiver with her left hand)

WAITER(to HERMAN and HENRY)
Just a minute.

(The WAITER removes her left hand and speaks, barely audible--into the receiver)

HERMAN(gentle to WAITER)
If it is Penelope Ann on the telephone--there is no need to tell your dear, sweet, childhood, orphan friend my motivations for wanting to marry her.

HENRY(gentle to WAITER)
Nor mine. She may blab it to every man and woman in high society.

WAITER(into receiver)
Goodbye.

(The WAITER places the handset on the cradle)

HERMAN(gentle)
Who were you privately talking to?

HENRY(gentle)
Who?

WAITER(gentle)
Penelope Ann. She telephoned to request her excellent friend meet her at her home to celebrate, but…

HERMAN and HENRY(gentle)
But what?

I-1-17

WAITER(cruel)
But now she knows everything about each of you!

(HENRY groans)

HERMAN
You. You. You low class former orphan!

(The WAITER turns around)

WAITER
 It appears the lightning and thundering passed and my work shift is over. I must be going now. Penelope Ann has invited me to her home to talk of the good old days growing up together. Farewell, gentlemen.

(The WAITER exits stage right)

HERMAN and HENRY(mimicking the WAITER)
“Talk of the good old days growing up together.”

HERMAN
What do we do when Penelope Ann tells every man and woman in high society our motivations for wanting to marry her?

HENRY
I recommend we flee from the city by midnight to the furthest corner of the globe in order to escape our hanging.

HERMAN
Agreed.

(As LIGHTS FADE, HERMAN and HENRY quickly exit stage right)

END OF PLAY

Call for submissions: Downtown Bike Rack Project

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:27:01 PDT

Call for submissions: Downtown Bike Rack Project

An alcove at the Lawrence Arts Center, the first site for the Downtown Bike Rack Project.

From Lawrence Central Rotary and the Lawrence Arts center:
Local and regional artists are invited to submit new creative designs for a community bike rack initiative in Downtown Lawrence. The first bike rack will be placed in front of the Lawrence Arts Center. The Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission has joined Lawrence Central Rotary in funding the first bike rack for this annual initiative sponsored by Lawrence Central Rotary. The selected bike rack will become the property of the Lawrence Arts Center. We encourage anyone to submit a proposal. BE CREATIVE!

Deadline: August 15, 2009
Eligibility: Open
Budget: $1,000 (All-inclusive bike rack budget including design and fabrication.)
Installation to be by City of Lawrence Public Works Department
Specifications for Design

The bike rack must be able to withstand severe outdoor weather in cold and hot temperatures and should be low maintenance with excellent sustainability. It should also be made of non-abrasive materials that can be easily maintained and does not scratch or damage bicycle frames with a durable finish that does not sustain damage from bicycles or locks.

The bicycle rack must accommodate at least six (6) bicycles.

Artists/designers should approach the project as a permanent installation to be installed into a concrete surface, with a minimum 10-year life expectancy.

The selected entry will be exclusive to the Lawrence Downtown Bike Rack Project.

All work must be safe for pedestrians and bicyclists of all ages with no pinch points, sharp edges or corners.

The work should be of an appropriate height and design so that it will not create a hazard for visually impaired or physically challenged pedestrians. A bicycle should not have to be lifted off the ground to access and be secured to the rack. The artwork must allow for part of the bicycle frame as well as at least one wheel to be secured to the rack.

Refer to the installation site map (PDF) for bike rack dimensions – Area #2.

The design must be compatible with commonly used U-locks.

Artists/designers are encouraged to review the bicycle parking guidelines created by the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals. More information can be found at apbp.org (PDF).

Creativity of design – visually noticeable, artistically designed, and unique.
Durability of design
Environmentally friendly design
Easy maintenance

How to Apply

Only electronic submissions accepted.
• A one-page statement with your name, contact information, and a brief written description of your project which includes:
• a description of your concept
• the materials to be used and assembly
• the capacity of the bike rack
• a brief statement of your experience in creating a work of art or fabricating materials
• Sketch of proposed bicycle rack, in color, and with explanatory notes and dimensions
• Budget
• Resume with current contact information
• 3 to 5 clearly labeled digital images of previous work relevant to this project with corresponding, numbered list of same works with title, media, dimensions, project budget, and brief description of the work.
• Three professional references with contact information, including email and telephone number(s).

Project contact

Carolyn Chinn Lewis, President Elect
Lawrence Central Rotary
lawrencecentralrotary.org
cclewis [at] ku [dot] edu
(785) 550-7650

Project timeline

• Proposal submission deadline: August 15, 2009
• Notification of selection: August 22, 2009
• Bike rack delivery to site: October 2, 2009
• Proposed installation timeframe: October 5-10, 2009
• Bike rack unveiling: October 10, 2009"

Chomp Womp Soda Fest

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:27:01 PDT

CHOMP WOMP SODA FEST JUNE 19TH
@ THE PISTOL & FOUNDATION (1219 UNION and 1221 UNION, WEST BOTTOMS KCMO)

The Chomp Womp Soda Fest will be an over-caffeinated celebration of all things rad. Fourteen bands, ranging in style from shoegazey indie pop to punky bluegrass, will alternate twenty minute sets on stages housed at The Pistol and Foundation. All the while Scott Starett (Rathaus contributor/graphic designer), Scott Stewart (Artstew Magazine), Jouvelt, and b. d. eek will try to make art among the rock and roll induced insanity. Plus there will be free cake, soda and freedom for all. That’s right, you heard me, free freedom. (Suck on that Toby Keith, you ass.) The show starts at 8:30pm and if you can’t make it, check back with The Rathaus for a recap.

Soda Fest Lineup:
HIGH DIVING PONIES
BURGER KINGDOM
ROOFTOP VIGILANTES
BOO AND BOO TOO
FORTUNING
BLEACHBLOODZ
GOODWILLIES
WRONG CROWD!
THE CALAMITY CUBES
SPELL MASTER
THE FACTORY WORKERS
DEMON HORSE
ECHO OF THE ELMS
NONRETURNER

posted by: Harold Johns III

Recap: Summer in Space

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:34:01 PDT

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the West 18th Street Fashion Show. Metallic accents, sheer fabrics, geometric angles, and even utilitarian pieces transforming right before our eyes took the stage in this year’s Summer in Space. As day became night on the outdoor runway we didn’t see Captain Kirk, but a much less literal, and more modern, interpretation of space by eighteen emerging designers.

Throughout the night, The Rathaus found three standout collections. These designers brought us cohesive collections with avant-garde pieces capable of catching my eye even after hours of high-end fashion internet browsing.

Katie Coble
Katie Coble is a Kansas City native but is currently a BFA Fibers candidate for 2010 at Maryland Institute College of Art with concentrations in experimental fashion and environmental design. Flux, instability, and the use of an object are what most interest her. She experiments mostly with material manipulation to transform garments and objects into different orientations. The wearer creates a performance using an object that does so many things that it can’t do one thing specific. Infinite possibilities do not equal one solution, but may just pose more questions and exploration. What drives Katie’s work is constraining the variables between these possibilities. Much of her fashion changes volumes and silhouettes and mixes very delicate feminine forms with heavier more massive ones.

Glib Engrish by Sovannra Yos
Sovannra has a BFA in Fiber from the Kansas City Art Institute, and is planning to continue her studies with a degree in fashion marketing. She describes her design style as a combination of luxury fabrics and the recycling of existing garments.

Swimming in the Galaxies by Rachel Rolon
Based in Kansas City, Rachel has attended college at the Kansas City Art Institute. She is planning a collection that will draw inspiration from galaxies, nebula, goddesses and art nouveau. She is planning to create sculptural, transformative garments for the runway.

posted by (The Rathaus): Tricia Rock
video and photos by: Artstew Design and Sara Rock

New Artstew Magazine - Issue #7

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:22:25 PST

Open publication - Free publishing - More art

Gary Mark Smith - Artstew Magazine Issue #7 - Full Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Artstew Design) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:55:29 PDT

Please read this full interview with Gary Mark Smith for Artstew Magazine Issue # 7, conducted by Scott Stewart.

How much of your work uses models (friends) and how much is "found object"?

Short Answer
Most of my work (99.9% of it) is made In the Wild, utilizing found objects, anticipation, access, patience and serendipity to portray people going about the bustle of their everyday public lives among urban elements, supporting characters that may -- aside from advancing the narrative of each image -- pinpoint the place and the time period the photograph was made in.
Although I occasionally use models and props to decorate a cityscape (I’m having a spate of that of late) it’s a minor method I use circumstantially. Of all the works I’ve had collected into major museums and national trust collections, only one has been of what I call the Theatrical Method (Oklahoma City Museum of Art 2005), the rest were all executed by the In the Wild Method.
I rather more enjoy the thrill of the hunt than to go about shooting fish in barrels...

Long Answer
I made a name for myself early on in my career for having (according to the editors at Black & White Online) A keen eye for the moment. That came from growing up pheasant hunting on the family farm in Berks County, Pennsylvania and learning to anticipate the exact moment to pull the trigger for greatest effect and reward. To anticipate the perfect moment in the flow of the city and to know exactly when to pull the trigger to capture and portray movement in form rather than by use of focus, has led me to a reputation for being fast and accurate in the wild as well as having an eye for overall composition. One critic called my work; "pictures within pictures within pictures". Visually bold and intellectually stimulating, that's all I'm hunting for in every photograph I make (and I succeed about once every 100 times or so that I try). But it's that dedication to that finer point of composition (and overall composition in general) that has distinguished my work from my recent contemporaries (Winogrand) who for the most part ignored composition in order to consistently (some say ad nauseam) portray life on the streets as an ongoing dark and confusing bustle. Although I believe there is an element of dark confusing bustle going on out there in the world (and in my broodings I practice it myself on occasion), I don't think it's ongoing and I do believe that despite our instinctive gloom we - - collectively as a world - - attempt to squeeze the upbeat out of our everyday lives out in public and typically succeed -- and with that (documentary) truth in my pocket, I take my fine art cameras out on the streets of the everyday world and beyond...
I only use models occasionally and incidentally. My wife Janet Cinelli accompanies me on about a quarter of my worldwide wanderings and since she's there and willing, I'll use her now and then on the spur of the moment to decorate a cityscape worthy of her exaggerated umbrella and cane poses. (see Buenos Aires 2008 Weird World CheScape >
http://www.streetphoto.com/images/BA%20Springtime41a%20Iconic%20UmbrellaScape2.jpg ).
Otherwise, over the years I have produced several (5) of what I call Theatrical Shoots, purposely decorating cityscapes using models, props and message boards. I did two in West Lafayette, Indiana in 1996 and another that summer in Amsterdam, all for my graduate dissertation at Purdue. Then I didn't do the fourth one until the summer of 2008, and that's because I finally had an urge (after 30 years!) to shoot in Lawrence simultaneously to having unusual access to three sixteen-year-old Lawrence high school girls as models. (See: Lawrence Free Spirit Shoot images: >http://www.streetphoto.com/images/Lawrence1%20Operation%20Free%20Spirit%20Dreamscape1.jpg & http://www.flickr.com/photos/streetphotomangarymarksmith/3424283262/ )
And In my latest work; Post-Market-Crash Tax Day on Wall Street: The Streets of New York's Financial District on April 15, 2009, I used both the Theatrical Method (using the Janet exaggerated umbrella poses) and a few hours worth of In the Wild method - - for the first time in my career combining both forms - - to express in a short series and multi-panel DreamScapes how it was for me on a very special (confused, angry, amused) American Tax Day on Wall Street (See: >
http://www.myartspace.com/viewer/gallery/?subscriberid=vzsx0ozdna896jb1&gallery_id=rrddukb50a9b8k32 )
So, although I've done more of the Theatrical lately then I typically do (to surprising notice from critics!) it's more of a quick water break due to circumstance occurring within an otherwise lifelong In the Wild marathon. I rather more enjoy the thrill of the hunt than to go about shooting fish in barrels...

How would classify the differences between your early, later, and latest photos in terms of techniques, execution, and point-of-view?

Short Answer
Aside from the occasional Theatrical Method outburst, I’m pretty much sticking to my original mission developed during the first seven years of my career: To create a compelling global street photography portfolio during one artist's lifetime revealing both the variety of culture and the similarity of spirit, infrastructure and order one encounters out on the seemingly chaotic streets of a single planet during one generation at the turn of a millennium; Where predominantly urban people can be studied and photographed in the wild going about the task of living out the leisure and bustle and sometimes grind of their everyday public lives.
I just think that (despite recent international recognition for several of my Theatrical Method images) I’m getting better and better at the In The Wild Method all the time and enjoying it more and more all the time too. In 2001 a big-deal photography outfit from New York named my Streetphoto.com artSite one of the Top Ten Black and White (film) Photography Websites on the Planet, and I’ll be damned if right about that time I didn’t get the calling to switch to Digital color instead. It’s a good thing part of my mission isn’t to get rich doing this…

Long Answer
I'm in the middle of (only time will tell?) a lifetime project (a scale of time and glacial pace that confounds just about everyone) that in many ways encourages me to stick to the original rules (my rules) conceived during the first seven years (1978-1985) of my career: To create a compelling global street photography portfolio during one artist's lifetime revealing both the variety of culture and the similarity of spirit, infrastructure and order one encounters out on the seemingly chaotic streets of a single planet during one generation at the turn of a millennium; Where predominantly urban people can be studied and photographed in the wild going about the task of living out the leisure and bustle and sometimes grind of their everyday public lives.
But of course my techniques and executions doing my work and applying that original mission out there among the thronging bustles are twice as honed and perfected as they were in 1992 when I'd had only half the time practicing my craft - - and I trust that 30 years from now in 2039 (if I get that long) I'll be twice as effective at creatively capturing the people I find in the places I go in that time. And as one might expect, my point of view changes nearly every day...

Do you consider what you do Photo Journalism, Fine Art or both? Or does it depend on the subject matter?

Short Answer
I’m a fine art global street photographer. I go to all the streets, even the dangerous newsworthy ones, and therefore sometimes I cross paths with journalists, and sometimes our subjects turn out to be the same people on the same streets. Everyday life on this variety of violent historic street can become relevant to both a street artist and a documentarian all the same, in some rare and interesting circumstances.

Long Answer
Access is extremely important in my work and typically that means the money to get there and back, the money to sleep, eat and to get around, and the time it takes in each destination to give each place the concentration it deserves.
On the risky historical shoots I end up on every three or four years, it's all about access.
In being the only fine art street photographer in the world who will (has trained for and can and does) go anywhere (Anywhere!) in this world -- not merely ranging the traditionally local sport of street photography to an entire planet but occasionally accessing the most violent and pestilent streets of this world in their most dangerous of times -- I sometimes encounter journalists in my work. Being trained as a journalist was the only way I might realistically guarantee access to the streets of war zones and natural disaster aftermaths (authority-laden places and times that they are) and needing absolute access to any world street at any time in order to fulfill my whole world mission (and also somehow maintaining the nerve and audacity it takes to risk life and limb for absolute photographic access,) I spent my undergraduate years at the University of Kansas moonlighting as a journalist. And so when I go to these violent places in time now as 'just' a fine art street photographer, I squeeze past the authorities with ease to get to wherever I need to be to capture that place in its moment, and I use the press corps for information and often get them to pay my way into battle or disaster zones in return for my expertise in such situations. In exchange for free access to extraordinary places in their times, I have acted as a media consultant ("fixer") in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Montserrat, Nicaragua, El Salvador and many other tenuous places.
(See Taliban Escape from Tora Bora 2001: the only known photograph made of a Taliban crossing the border from Afghanistan into Pakistan in the edgy Pashtun Tribal Belt refugee camps, he avoiding US bombers at Tora Bora - - a photograph made possible by getting to Peshawar, Pakistan via media contacts and partnerships and then going beyond where those journalists weren't allowed to go (insurance concerns) in the accompany of heavily armed local guides >
http://www.streetphoto.com/HistoryAfghan.htm)
On some streets in some times in the middle of a whole world mission, sometimes it's all about access.

Does being a regular world traveler change your view of America and Americans?

Short Answer
Yes. I’m still, of course, an American (I’m labeled an American artist at overseas exhibitions and I love to brag about how good I’ve got it in Lawrence, Kansas, USA) but I’m also global now and can no longer authoritatively speak for America, because I've been spoiled by firm evidence of greater civilization through collective worldwide problem solving rather than through selfish nationalist dogma, a disease rampant in many, many more places than just my home country.

Long Answer
Definitely!
I used to dabble at being an American writer, speaking my American mind and encouraging Americans to ... (yadda yadda yadda ...)
But somewhere along the line I came to terms with the fact that I was no longer just an American. I'd crossed over (after 35 or 40 countries) to being a global citizen. All my TV news solutions shouted out loud in my living room to my cats (I'm sure ya'all do that kind of thing at your house too!) became focused on a whole world philosophy rather than an American one. So as one might guess, the post 9-11 Bush years were tough for me, so tough that I wrote a book about dropping out of American politics and then did just that, knowing my whole world-structure pronouncements would fall on deaf ears in that time even if I'd bothered to write them down for public view.
(See White With Foam/ Essays, Rumors, Field Notes and Photographs from the edge of World War III/ September 10, 2001 to September 12, 2002: >
http://www.streetphoto.com/bookWWFCover.htm)
I can't authoritatively speak for America any longer, because I've been spoiled by firm evidence of greater civilization through collective global problem solving.
Ps- I believe Americans are some of the best people on Earth, and I tell all my worldly friends that all the time - - and they nearly always agree, and nearly always add - - since January 2002 (the Bush Axis of Evil State of the Union address) until November, 2008 (when America elected Obama) - - that it's the American government that sometimes makes me want to scream...

How much change have you noticed in cities and streets in your 30+ years of street photography?

Short Answer
Despite backsliding eras of war and bad government occurring circumstantially here and there around the globe, I sense a glacial evolution toward greater urban civilization and even greater individual civility - - a world of cities getting more and more used to living so close together and learning to do it better than before and having a bit more fun in the process as well. Not all cities and not all the time in any one city. Yet as a whole, I’d have to say that I am currently uncomfortably optimistic.

Long Answer
My Public Telephone series (See: > http://www.streetphoto.com/PublicPhones.htm ) focuses on change as a character, and by the time that portfolio is complete upon my death, will have artistically documented the device and the act of public phoning from booth to portable to cell to texting to earplugs only.
I won't be here long enough to be able to measure change in global cities as a whole, however I can speak authoritatively about a few particular streets, those of Lawrence (where I rarely shoot) and of New York (all 5 boroughs), Amsterdam, Paris and Toronto.
Lawrence has grown from a one-horse town to a three-horse town since I established my studio here in 1979. Yet it has maintained its downtown and art-friendly charm and there still isn't anyplace I know in the world I'd rather live and do my work than Lawrence, Kansas, USA.
New York has civilized in the past 50 years I've known it, even safer and more friendly (surprising to outsiders who've never visited) than it was when I grew up in the region and began my street photography there in the late 70s. Despite 9-11, times have been good for New York, and the current Mayor is a neat freak -- so the place is probably in better shape than it has ever been, and quite possibly may ever be...
Most of Paris is what it is, what it has been, and what it shall surely remain as until the end of all civilization. I don't love Paris (a bit of a toy city, I'm afraid) but I do like the place and sometimes I find very good street photography there along with a lot of really good grub!
Toronto, in my mind, has gotten a bit raunchier over the years. It's always been an international city having little in common with greater Canada, and that quirky charm never ceases to attract me to it as a street artist. I love the ethnic neighborhoods -- a bit less homogenized than in New York or Amsterdam -- but I spend most of my time there photographing Queen Street which is the main street of Canadian media and Canadian arts and an international street fashion show where big hair, high clogs and outrageous multi-colored rave wear lead the way.)
Amsterdam has changed the most during my 25 years going there and ultimately going so often and for so long so repeatedly that it became my second home. When I first showed up there in 1982 it was the international youth culture capitol of the world, full of street buskers, world wanderers and the post-hippie throng of soft drug purists. The trams were brightly painted by artists and squatters filled up and decorated vacant buildings throughout the city. Life was free and loose and tolerant and anarchy (done in good taste and without harming others) was a respected spirit that made Amsterdam the place it became -- the best place on Earth to be nearly anything you want in public.
Well, the Amsterdam of today is much the same - - only in a more subdued fashion.
The post-hippie era has ended, the latest mayor (Job Cohen) is a tidy brand-minded businessmen and most of all the occurrence of 9-11 has muddied the proud Dutch toleration of immigration - - and these reasons combined with the natural passage of time have blurred the local definition of what it means to be free on the streets in Holland.
Camping Zeeburg (a place I occasionally lived at in my studio tent between 1982 and 2001), created out of marshland on the edge of the city in 1975 as a place to house indignant drug addicts and unsightly hippies and homeless and known for its rollicking outdoor hash parties - - has turned into a family campground.
The trams, after their hyper-colorful art canvas and advertising billboard phases of the 1980's and 1990's, are now mostly just plain white (Yuk!) with transport striping and city logos.
The soft drug coffeehouses remain, but (under current law) no new ones can open, and every time an owner dies or one closes up shop, Holland gets closer to a generational disappearance of this notorious lure of international youth seeking a civilized place to be themselves outside.
Last winter Amsterdam authorities successfully closed down about 30% of the Red Light District brothels, and it's clear they are gunning for the rest, those having been another notorious toleration of vice at that place since the 14th century.
Despite these and other mellowing changes, (although I'll be pissed off about the dully-decorated trams until the next art/advertising phase rolls around), Amsterdam is still my second favorite place in the world aside from Lawrence. I could be just as happy recording a lifetime of change in fashion there without the soft drugs and I never did any business with the girls of the Wallen anyway.

From your writing and your photography you seem very attuned to the small things in life, where does that perspective come from and how is it effected by subject matter, like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina?

Short Answer
I only feel comfortable creatively when I’m able to take an un-godly amount of time to overanalyze a thing to death in order to nail the notion of the thing to it’s bold and stimulating brass tacks - - to get the best possible results from my streetphoto cameras.
Events (self assignments) either as big as the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina or as small as a regular Tuesday afternoon shoot on the streets of Buffalo, New York don’t seem to deter me either way from taking my time and working a notion as long and as thoroughly as necessary.

Long Answer
A friend and I were on a mountain hike above the fjords near Flam, Norway in 1982 and we were sitting at the trunk of a large tree next to a roaring river taking a rest from the climbing. I kept digging my hand into soft soil near the tree and kept coming up with new things to discover about that square meter of earth. A couple different kinds of insects, a few small pebbles and the deeper I dug the older and more interesting the debris became. I looked over at my friend, dirt piled in my open hand -- some rolling off the pile and off my hand and falling back to where it had come from -- and I told him; I could stay here in this spot for a lifetime and do nothing but excavate and log and study this place and I could write book after book after book about what I find here to share with everyone else who can't make the time to come to Norway."
"Yea," he replied, "but they wouldn't be very interesting books."
So - - in the quest for more interesting books and such - - rather than spending the lifetime I had coming to me digging about in one square meter of Norway, I chose to do a like concentration of discovery with the streets of one round planet instead. Still marveling at the minutia I might discover in a single handful of human character. Discovering and recording in that detail personalities and behaviors and qualities I've grown to admire in other cultures through my work that I never even knew existed before leaving home. And that happens on every trip and every streetphoto adventure I ever take - - three to five times per year every year since the beginning of my career.
And when something enormous like 9-11, Katrina and the Flood of New Orleans, the Russian Revolution, Tora Bora or an exploding Caribbean volcano (these incredible historical shoots comprising only about 5% of my work), they direct me to a place in its time, and my perspective and execution changes a bit - - but not my technique for zeroing my streetphoto cameras in to record visually bold and intellectually stimulating compositions of found minutia portraying my view of that tiny place in that big time. I've discovered through the miles and years that even the best photographers unaccustomed to the bigness of such man-made and natural catastrophes become hypnotized by the disaster and forget everything they ever learned about composition and visual and intellectual detail, deferring all brain cells to the enormity of consequence, forgetting that they are being counted on (by whatever audience they have) to use their storytelling skills as artists to make their images speak in paragraphs rather than single words or short phrases. Many great photographers inexperienced in dealing with themselves within a calamity are turned by their own amazement and astonishment into point and shoot automats, documenting things like an insurance agent would rather than taking the extraordinary found objects they encounter (shutting down their emotions to focus on their camera skills) and using these incredible elements and the surrounding supporting characters to make more compelling art about what had occurred.
Later on when I'm alone, after the thing is over, the big thing that I know might stick with me in bad dreams the rest of my life, only then do I succumb to its enormity, typically having a good cry or two while going over the pictures - - images made photographically well by limiting thought and human nature at the time they were made to each one square meter of catastrophe I encountered that day.

You detail your travels in conjunction with your photographs, how important do you think your writing is toward understanding the photographs?

Short Answer
My photographs are built to stand on their own as individual artworks, or within a place or theme collection.
I have a lot of fun titling some of them. Typically, when an image lends itself to snapshot literature, I enjoy applying a clever description or zeroing in on an emotion using just a few words. My first book (Molten Memoirs, 275 pages) and third book (White With Foam 350 pages) were worthwhile documentary-related projects that screamed (dragged me down by my short hairs) for a full telling. I'm convinced that had I chosen writing over the photographic arts as my life's work I'd be a lonely divorced alcoholic by now, living on a houseboat out at Perry Lake, chain smoking and slugging sour mash whisky by the gallon - - writing dribble and waiting to die.
Thinking aloud in detail on paper is very difficult, and seeing aloud in detail through a viewfinder and on paper is easier, so I chose seeing over writing as my going concern.

Long Answer
My photographs are built to stand on their own as individual artworks, or within a place or theme collection.
I have a lot of fun titling some of them. Typically, when an image lends itself to snapshot literature, I enjoy applying a clever description or zeroing in on an emotion using just a few words. My first book (Molten Memoirs, 275 pages) and third book (White With Foam 350 pages) were worthwhile documentary-related projects that screamed (dragged me down by my short hairs) for a full telling. I'm convinced that had I chosen writing over the photographic arts as my life's work I'd be a lonely divorced alcoholic by now, living on a houseboat out at Perry Lake, chain smoking and slugging sour mash whisky by the gallon - - writing dribble and waiting to die.
Thinking aloud in detail on paper is very difficult, and seeing aloud in detail through a viewfinder and on paper is easier, so I chose seeing over writing. I enjoy writing, but only in small doses -- choosing to avoid it whenever I can as an ongoing concern - - unless something out there again gets me by the short hairs...

It seems that you are cataloging the fashion, the street characters and how they fit into a place rather then documenting city or it's streets, how do you see your subject matter?

Short Answer
Correct!, and a very insightful observation to boot!
My work is overwhelmingly about both the particular place and the particular found people and found objects at that place in the time I have to spend there (access). The "streets" and "the city" are always just there as a unifying canvas coating of my work.

Long Answer
Correct!, and a very insightful observation to boot!
My work is overwhelmingly about both the particular place and the particular found people and objects at that place in the time I have to spend there (access). The "streets" and "the city" are always just there as a unifying canvas coating, and on my www.streetphoto.com <http://www.streetphoto.com> artSite the place portfolios are nearly always titled What One Sees on the streets of (Paris, London, Amsterdam, New York, etc.). A title borrowed from 19th century Frenchman Victor Fournel (a journalist, as it was) who wrote a book in 1858 titled Ce qu'on voit dans les rues de Paris (What One Sees on the Streets of Paris) where he portrays the street as theater.
When I go to a place (that theatre) I use every element available to me (advertising, fashion, architecture, iconic street lamps, etc) that speak visually somehow about the personality and reputation of that place -- often stalking these elements as background and waiting (sometimes many hours over several days) for serendipity to cut through the bustle and supply the foreground with a leading actor (a found person) who somehow speaks decisively (in their manner or fashion or way I caught them in the moment) about that place in that time.

When you are in a new place, do you just shoot anything and everything or do you plan out what you want to get?

Short Answer
I plan as much as possible before leaving the studio, but I have many established themes such as street sweeps and public telephones or vendors and police on the beat - - things you’ll find in every city throughout the world- - and while working old themes on the streets in a new place I know it’s just a matter of time until I’ll eventually run into every urban element that might be visually defining of that particular place and will be worth watching (stalking) over time to mine for visually bold and intellectually stimulating images.

Long Answer
There are several favorite themes in my work. Most places (particularly in the West) have people sleeping in public, and this is my favorite concentration because these images tend to be inherently powerful and thought provoking. (See: >
http://www.streetphoto.com/Sleeping_in_the_city_BW.htm & http://www.streetphoto.com/ColorSleeping.htm)
Everywhere I go in the world there are street sweeps, so I can count on both encountering street sweeps anywhere I am and having little time with them (they move on pretty fast and don't like being followed), but at a pace which affords me the opportunity with every sweep scene that occurs around me to get quick grab shots of each of them with several different supporting urban elements (cars, curbs, garbage baskets, pedestrians and the whatnot). (See:> http://www.streetphoto.com/StreetSweeps.htm )
Nearly everywhere in the world I travel has sidewalk vendors, street buskers, beat police, and these days someone invariably walking down the street with a telephone up to their ear. So these (and many other urban themes) are ingrained into my flow as I dart about wherever I find myself hunting, searching, and stalking. Each new place has its own persona and before leaving my studio I'll always study a place's architecture and penchant for street-level advertising, reading several guides and articles or books about a place in my research. I'm not a Muslim or particularly religious for that matter, but to make sure I'm properly prepared to get inside locals heads and capture them earnestly in my work and as best I can, whenever I find myself going off on a predominantly Muslim culture -- I re-read the Koran.
The more a global street photographer knows about the history of a place and the mindset of its inhabitants, the better one can corral that outlook and incorporate meaningful intelligence about a place into their work.

Artstew Magazine would like to give extra special thanks to Gary for all of his help and time.