Sculpture Space is hosting a works in progress reception this Monday, July 26, 2010 from 5:30 – 7:30 PM. Work in the studios of the four resident artists will be on view as well as an informal tour of the soon to be new residence for the artists at 508 Wiley Street from 4:00 – 5:00 PM. I will inflate my new inflatable suit that is as big as a house for a performance during the event. The Love Bike will also be giving out free rides to all guests.

Come enjoy food, drinks and lots good conversation.

Artists:

Loren Erdrich / Brooklyn, NY
Jimmy Kuehnle / San Antonio, TX
Maria Michails / Bayside, NY
Joe Winter / Long Island City, NY

Location:

Sculpture Space
12 Gates Street
Utica NY, 13502
www.sculpturespace.org

Behind the inflatable suit that I am wearing is the studio at Sculpture Space in Utica, New York. This new piece is called Make it Look Rich and currently in a testing phase. After some adjustments and repairs, this suit will be heading out into the world. I wanted to make an inflatable suit that overpowered me and it looks like this is going down the right track.

Access to a welder along with surplus bicycle parts usually leads to one thing, a new “frankenbike”. I took a break form sewing after acquiring some old bicycles and whipped up this new four seat bicycle. It started as a typical tadpole trike, but quickly evolved into a multiple passenger “Love Cycle.”

Two folding chairs make up the passenger section and a self pivoting bicycle frames adds extra pedal power in the rear. I welding two pieces of metal tubing together to make a large heart that is now wrapped in 12-volt lights. Dual-pull brake handles allow me to stop all four wheels from the driver’s seat during fast downhill descents. I plan to take daily tours around Utica and offer free rides. It should break up my time in the studio well.

My sewing machine is tearing through some new nylon during the construction of a core for a new inflatable suit at Sculpture Space. Now that I have the inner foundation, which includes four tubes for blower motors, I can tackle the fun part of the outer structure. I see a lot of red and yellow nylon in my future and some new Organ sewing needles.

This week I settled into my studio at Sculpture Space in Utica, New York. This June and July I will be a resident artist here. Since there is a welding shop here I plan to fabricate a bicycle in addition to a new inflatable suit. Usually there are four resident artists at Sculpture Space but temporarily there will be five.

For more information:

www.sculpturespace.org

The final stop of the Texas inflatable suit performance tour began outside Akard Station in Dallas. This is a shot of the suit in its bag with the portable battery pack next to it. Most people do not notice these two objects sitting on the street until the combination of the two results in a huge inflatable sculpture. Rain and strong winds did not stop the performance nor the public. Before suiting up, cameramen from CBS 11 and CW 33 interviewed me about my plans for the Dallas performance. A photographer from the Dallas Observer and Pegasusnews.com braved the wet and windy weather as well.

The Texas performance tour did not have any hiccups. After spending an extended period in Texas during graduate school, it will always fell like one of the places that I can call home. I look forward to the next time I return to Texas with new work. Thank you to all the patrons of the arts in Texas.

You Wear What I Wear hit the streets of Houston starting at Sam Houston Park. Houston is a great city for the arts and I enjoy doing public performances there. As usual for a Friday lunch break, the public was ready for action. The next and final stop on the Texas tour is in Dallas on April 2nd at 12:00 noon. I will start outside of Akard Station (Akard St and Pacific Ave) and then head into the city.

Deborah Cannon of the Austin American-Statesman came out during the performance to snap some documentary photographs. One appeared in the Metro-State section in the Saturday paper. There is also an online slide show at Austin360.com that has more photographs from the performance.

The performance began at the corner of Cesar Chavez Street and Congress Avenue. Due to the SXSW Festival I had to further south on Congress and walk across the bridge. The sun beat down on the street and people crammed the cafes and restaurants. As I made my way toward the capitol I slammed into traffic lights, trash cans, storefront windows, buses and just about everything else. I met some people during the trek and filled the tiny screens of cell phone cameras. It has been almost a year since I performed in Austin in Big Red and was sucked into a parking garage by the wind. This time You Wear What I Wear braved the wind and did not falter once.

Next week I will be performing in Houston, Texas. The performance starts at 12:00 noon at Sam Houston Park on the 19th. Hope to see you there.