What works resonate with you? Work that inspires you to make you want to get into the studio? Work that makes you so stimulated that you want to grab your friend to come and stare at it with you? Work that makes you lose your side blinders and begin to see art everywhere? Or is the the work that you absolutely hate, and then two days later when you can’t get it out of your head you realize… it has affected you? For this blog entry I’ve decided that more is more since it seems that all of the shows that I saw in the past two days seemed to compound layers upon one another. It gave me the same feeling I get when I get home and finally get to see photos I took from a vacation, I can take more time to look at the details and take a break from the overwhelming visual stimulation.

Cranbrook Thesis Show 2011

A ‘test’ within Corina Reynold’s art piece ”The IAE” it asked me, how long did you spend looking at each piece? I darkened the dot that said 2 – 5 seconds. It makes me wonder, did I really see the art?
Aaron Jones (Architecture)

Jessica Calek (Architecture)

Katie Wynne (Sculpture)

Jason Carter (Painting)

A view of the Main Gallery

Erin Sweeny (Photography)

Brittney Pool (3D Design)

The South Gallery

Aim Sirampuj (2D Design)

James Carrillo (Photography)

Jessica Edgar (Ceramics)

Susie Ellis (Painting)

James Payne (Sculpture)

Lauren Cherry (Ceramics)

Rustin McCann

Dan Roberts (Sculpture)

Dan Roberts (Sculpture)

Edgar Mosa (Metalsmithing)

Ye Liu (Architecture)

Erin Yuasa (Ceramic)

Kyle Ford (Painting)

Yingquing Liu (Metalsmithing)

Younghee Hong (Metalsmithing)

Richard Hesketh (Ceramics)

Richard Hesketh (Ceramics)

Ryan Clark (Print Media)

Lower Gallery

Juan Torres – Architecture

Tony Garbarini – Print Media

30th Annual Michigan Fine Arts Competition at the BBAC

Perusing in a circle at the 30th Annual Michigan Fine Arts Competition at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center I saw the names of artists who also had submitted work to a show I had just juried at the Scarab Club. I thought to myself about how amazing that for someone with a high level of craft or skill they have plenty of venues to ensure that their work will be seen.
Stephen Palmer – ”Sawtooth”

Gilda Snowden – ”Flora Urbana 2”

William Dwyer – ”Seven of Ten”

Robert B. Park – ”The Game-Changer and the Cosmological Constant”

Luralee Kiesel – ”Weeping Willow #8”

John Albert Murphy – ”Stars”

Kirk Roda

K. W. Bell – ”Calligraffiti II”

(from left to right) Laura Juncker, Darcel Deneau, Liz Davis, Douglas LaFerle

Charles Torner – ”A Sculpture in the Forest”

Some work in their retail area

Sandy Rice – Brother

Nolan Simon & Blue Cheer

Nolan Simon’s work at the CAVE was completely re-appropriated and added to by Mike Smith’s College for Creative Studies class. When I asked Dylan Spaysky, one of the people that run the gallery, what did the original show look like before all the students came in and moved things around, he easily responded with, ”What differences?”.

Chris Riddell @ 3322 Lawley

The last mindf*ck happened while walking to Chris Riddell’s show at 3322 Lawley just down from Mitch and Gina and not that far from Scott Hocking’s show Tartarus. After seeing the Heidelburg-esque arrangement of found objects although more sinister, I couldn’t stop looking at houses wondering if certain homes were the homes of outsider artists or if that was just how someone thought about decorating their home…




See what I mean? This house in the same neighborhood totally looks like a work of art.

Think of it as a Performance! (My favorite quote of the week, thanks to Ben Hernandez.)

This weekend has even more to offer for the art-gallery-hopper. There is a film festival, Scrummage at the Russell Industrial Center tonight (Cinco De Mayo), Ian Swanson’s show opens at Starkweather, Lemberg and Hilberry have work by hometown favorites and there is even more CCS shenanigans happening at Art Effect in Eastern Market. Oh yeah, and there’s a a Garage Sessions at 9227 Mason, Sparklefest at NorthEnd Studios and the Detroit Arts Summit all on Saturday. Overwhelmed yet?

The relocated Burton Theater for Scrummage Moving Pictures

(The space is on the third floor of building 1A West. On weekdays, you enter from Clay (the usual entrance), go just past the first building and turn right into the alley (with an overpass on top), which takes you back toward 75 and to a parking lot with a huge mural of a robot tiger. If you don’t see a humungous robot tiger, keep looking, or you’re in the wrong parking lot. The entrance is to the right of a white security box, with a wooden staircase. Just go up to the third floor, it’s the first studio on you’re left. We’ll put signs up and everything.)