Artistic Jumpstart, with safety goggles

2021 brought me several instances of fierce creative elation, and I will write more about that. All physical art things, not writing. Mainly instances of sharing art/creativity with other people. (I did not get into the DCAC Sparkplug thing, but that feels fine to me because I am at a creative juncture and might not be cranking out a lot of finished pieces right away. I just want to play with materials -- including hot metal!)

Step 55: "aim flame into pig's nose to burn out excess oil"

Donna Reinsel teaches welding at the Art League in Alexandria, VA. (Her portfolio features, in addition to jewelry and furniture, some of her amazing lamps and chandeliers. If you have ever had the misfortune of hearing me go on and on about the fantastic lighting fixtures that used to hang at Perry's in Adams Morgan, and now presumably hang in the owner's house, which is so unfair to the rest of us, then you may have some small inkling of the elation I felt when I realized that my impending instructor was in fact the creator of the Vanished Chandelier I Was Obsessed With.)

Omichrome

Jamie (Irreverent Rhyme) told me that every time she heard "Omicron," she got Paul Simon's "Kodachrome" stuck in her head, so...

[original song for reference] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rlDTK6QI-w

Mettle

 Filth & I had been talking about learning to weld, and the notion continued to smolder in me... then I happened upon the course listings for The Art League (at the Torpedo Factory), and now I am going to learn how to weld. (Details to follow!)

Also, I got in my application for the DC Arts Center's Sparkplug Collective. I started to type, "so I'm waiting to hear," but I'm not waiting. I've decided to behave as if I am in. Deadlines and shared projects energize me, so I am tapping into that energy as much as I can. Getting my atelier/aerie more organized in the direction of making more art. And making more art.

Rust, glass, wings -- and paper

 Realizing I haven't bragged enough about being in the paper.

This was in the Washington Post's what's-in-the-galleries-this-week roundup [a few weeks ago] ...

No Appointment Necessary!

DC Arts Center is holding its annual Wallmountables right now -- it's like a tiny Artomatic, all in one room! -- and you no longer need an appointment to visit (though I think you do need a mask).

Wed-Sun. 2-7 pm

through August 22nd

My stuff is on the front wall. "I'm Not Trying To Move You."

If We All Go (djh, 2021)

Utopia Monster: Initial reports from the VDF2.0 Biohazard Containment Facility

 

As long as I have to work the graveyard shift in this place, you may as well get a tour. Come see the nonrecyclable monstrosity the authorities have wisely quarantined in this isolation tent. Hairnets provided upon request.

PONY X and the Magicicada PhoeniX

We built, and burned the thing, and it was sparkly.

Burning here:  @joanarkham

Utopia Monster, Eco-Angst, PONY X, Virgil Del Fuego...

 Virtual Del Fuego 2.0 is happening at the end of this month: May 28-31, 2021. Some of the things that I am doing:

- exploring my inner drag king

- building and burning a semi-pony effigy thing

- making a secret metal sculpture to hide inside the thing we are going to burn

I've also been making a ridiculous twisted plastic thing... the Utopia Monster... which i envision housing in a biohazard containment tent during the event. There will be tours, and opportunities to leave your own messages (PAPER OR PLASTIC?), and hopefully a discussion about our various eco-anxieties, hopes, furies, ideas and suggestions...? If not, it may just be me ranting on-camera by myself. That, too, is cathartic.

virtual.playadelfuego.org is where events will unfold!

Bxiie goes on about something

On Wednesday, May 5, I (which is to say, me, Bxiie) will be giving an online presentation about my art practice and specifically about the design and installation of Isolation, a large piece that I produced last year and installed in Jamestown, Rhode Island.  The arts group that arranged last year's show (Jamestown Arts Center) has asked me to speak.  I will discuss my work for about 30 minutes and then answer questions for about 30 minutes.  The stream starts at 7:30 pm east-coast time.

If you are interested, you should RSVP in advance.

https://www.jamestownartcenter.org/events/jac-talk-james-payne

VDF 2.0

Virtual del Fuego 2.0

Memorial Day Weekend 2021
Fri. May 28, 2021 6pm eastern - Mon. May 31, 2021 3pm eastern

It Is the Job of the System Not to Change

NOTE for those using the mobile version: Here is the link to the C.R.Tucker book collection - for sale now!

Daniel the Dark, First of His Name, Liege-Lord of the Weirdlands...

What's everyone else been doing while sheltering-in-place? We might have watched a few episodes of "Knightfall"... and then a lot of other TV while not looking at the screen the whole time.

Dan also created a device for winding steel wire into a spiral so he could then snip it into identical links. This chainmail coif is composed of approximately 5,500 links, made from ~ 450 feet of wire.

Dan X Herr

(This pic on Instagram)

(Dan's art on Instagram)

Burner Banter Hour

 

FirePony Creative Society (the fantabulous folks who put on Playa del Fuego, Constellation Burn, and Virtual del Fuego) will be having a Zoom chat / informal meet-up this evening -- hosted by our beloved Diana Smiles. <3

The Burner Banter Hour is the Connections Committee's informal monthly meet-up and takes place on the 3rd Wednesday of every month at 7 PM ET at Zoom Meeting ID 750 660 4772.

Plenty to talk about tonight!

Everyone is welcome to join!

(next Burner Banter Hour: Mar. 17, 2021 @ 7 pm eastern)