SAC on the Road

A few more pics from SAS

2010-01-30T22:09:00.006-05:00

A few snaps from the reception:

friends making art!

co-conspirators sewing zine bindings like the wind...

Saturday workshop folks making stuff:

Beth Schaible's awesome Saturday workshop compilation giveaway cover:

We clean up pretty good...

Where did the week go??? I think it got gobbled up by re-entry stuff, broken water heaters, weather, etc. The wheel always keeps turning...

After last Wednesday's posting (the block prints) the SAS classes ramped way up...kids were making stuff, we were teaching stuff, we were compiling and copying and sewing and binding stuff, we had a gallery reception (including a tornado of all things!) and then the big push to finish the class zines and THEN do the Saturday workshop. WHEW! It all went super well and was a lot of fun. But true to form while in the middle of all the do-ing I failed to document very well. So, what follows is a bunch of photos in more or less chronological order but I suspect leaving a lot of gaps in the story. My response to that is that you literally had to be there, because it was AWESOME!

Thank you SAS! You guys treated us great and were a joy to work with. You are all now Shoestringers of a sort (it's contagious!)- so carry on smartly and keep making stuff!

MB, signing off...

An aside...

2010-01-26T20:55:00.002-05:00

I'm a bit behind on posting the remaining images from last week, I plan to catch up by the end of this week.

I wanted to let everyone know that Robert Croma (Shoestringer and video artist from London, England) lost his father last Tuesday (the first day of the SAS classes.) This happened after a short and acute bout with cancer, and has been a hard time for Robert and his family. Robert had contacted me in the late fall to let me know of the diagnoses, but still was committed to participate in our show.

His submissions of all the videos in the compilation included the piece titled "Night Impromptu" which has recently been shortlisted for an award in the French film festival Videoformes.

It may be odd to post this in the middle of a such a forum, but I think it's important to remember that the world swirls around and lots of things (good and bad, happy and sad) are happening simultaneously. The wheel turns, and making and showing and teaching are all parts of a larger whole.

I am certain i am joined by you all in sending Robert our sympathies and best wishes.

Making Block Prints

2010-01-22T12:47:00.002-05:00

watch?

day 3, a short clip...

SAS Workshop Day 2

2010-01-22T09:50:00.001-05:00

watch?

so busy I'm a day behind in posting...

SAC/SAS Workshop Day 1

2010-01-20T09:38:00.001-05:00

watch?

6th graders

People Making Pages

2010-01-19T15:43:00.010-05:00

Junior Shoestringers making stuff (6th graders):

not a 6th grader, but still making stuff...

back to the kids...

the AWESOME Christi Teasley making pages!

manual typewriter: star tool of the day!

some finished pages:

Day one: SUCCESS!

Video coming soon....

We Arrived and Set Up...

2010-01-19T12:07:00.003-05:00

Beth figuring

Margaret planning

Mark plotting

Resource center in development

Resource center done

Waiting for resources

Beth cutting

Then we went to our sweet LUX accomodations, and....

Beth started making stuff

Margaret started making stuff

and I went to sleep...cause the next day we began bright and early...

Departures and Arrivals...

2010-01-17T15:46:00.003-05:00

The Good Ship Agnes is out of mothballs, loaded with stores and getting underway at sunup. I don't imagine Mr. Ford had this in mind when he built these big land boats, but they are fine circus-worthy vessels when effectively re-purposed. Sundown will find us secure in your berth and ready for an action packed week of exploring Other Possibilities.

Reminder to soon-to-be Shoestringers

2010-01-15T07:41:00.003-05:00

Oh yeah, that's right, guilt by association... proximity to Shoestringers makes the condition contagious!

Don't forget every student and every workshop participant needs to bring a box full o' stuff to contribute to the community pile. A shoe box size collection would be perfect and appropo...

What to bring? Well, you could take a look at my friend Jim's workplace and probably find some things...

Shoestring Artists: we make almost anything out of next to nothing...

We'll be in town Monday night, and see the first of you Tuesday morning, boxes in hand...

HUZZAH!!!

Packing our trunks...

2010-01-13T21:39:00.003-05:00

and trying to pick the perfect vehicle...

Coming soon to St. Andrews-Sewanee School: the Shoestring Artists Collective Traveling Road Show and Workshop of Other Possibilities

The excitement builds, let the countdown begin!

Welcome to SAS, Shoestringers

2010-01-06T13:48:00.012-05:00

Welcome Shoestringer Artists Collective to St. Andrew's-Sewanee School. We are a small boarding and day school in Southeastern Tennessee. Mark, Margaret, and Beth will meet us in person. We wish that all of you could see the wild exhibition created with your work in the SAS Gallery. We'll try to make it come to life for you through this blog. Meanwhile, here is a VIDEO to help you get to know the St. Andrew's-Sewanee community from afar.

SAC/SAS Day 2

2010-01-04T22:08:00.000-05:00

watch?

Day two of the SAS show install

Installing the show: Sunday

2010-01-04T21:49:00.006-05:00

It went better than my wildest dreams, so good in fact that i don't have any process pictures (wha????) because me and my awesome co-pilot, navigator and most excellent co-conspirator MC came in, put our heads down and WORKED all day and when we looked up we had a SHOW! (as well as a long cold dark drive back across the mountains ahead of us.) We loaded the Green Machine, grabbed some coffee and rolled on down the road getting home a little after midnight. (Travelers note: if you have occasion to be around Cleveland TN you might want to take a pass on the Subway...it's a LONG ways off the interstate and they make a S-L-O-W sandwich...)

I have a 4 minute or so walk-around silent video that I'm trying to get up tonight. In the meantime, some info regarding the Big Event(s) can be found right here

It looks SO GOOD and I'm really proud to being playing a part in the adventure. All the contributing artists were very generous, excited and easy to work with, thank you guys! And the St. Andrews-Sewanee folks have been treating us right! Thank you Christi Teasley for all your support, and for the opportunity to show Other Possibilities to the world at large.

Finally (for this post) I especially want to thank MC for everything she did to make this install go so well. Her energy, talent, humor, commitment, encouragement, smarts and plain old hard work is what made this as good as it is and I could not have done it without her help and support. I am generally NOT an easy person to take a car trip with but there wasn't a mile or an hour that I didn't thoroughly enjoy. THANK YOU doesn't begin to say how grateful I am...

Ok, it's COLD out, the wind is howling and I think the video might be done percolating so I want to get that up before lights out. Thanks to all the Shoestringers and stay tuned for more reports!

Installing the show: Saturday

2010-01-03T10:28:00.001-05:00

Green Machine, Loaded

2010-01-01T22:59:00.000-05:00

And so it begins...

2010-01-01T08:18:00.000-05:00

The first conversations started way back when it was hot and balmy in the southern mountains. They have come to fruition on this, the windy frozen first day of the new year.

19 artists. Well over 100 pieces of work. A new venue with an appetite for risk and adventure. Travel to far away places and meeting new faces...

The Shoestring Artists Collective hits the road, sunup tomorrow. We intend to file frequent field reports. Stay tuned.

MB, out.