The Lot ~ Detroit

Winter of our Contentment

2011-02-07T12:25:00.000-08:00

The light looks beautiful in the winter.
Our skin looks warm against the cool colors around us, grey sky and white ground, so many variations of grey and pale pale blue.
We have this time to go inside our thoughts, to conserve our energies, and to build our ideas so we can arise in the spring and the summer, burst out of our winter skin like phoenixes in the sun!

The Lot on Lawley

2010-10-20T14:45:00.000-07:00

photo by Jon Brumit

The Lot set up on Lawley Street this October to meet up with Luis Croquer (Director of MOCAD) and Joel Wachs (President of the Andy Warhol Foundation). It was a lovely get-to-together. Thanks to Jon Brumit across the street!
This marks the beginning of The Lot's transient phase, where the The Lot is a venue wherever the letters are. We are looking to partner with friends, strangers, and organizations in Detroit and beyond. Think about it! Let's come to your neighborhood!

Golden Indeed

2010-05-30T17:23:00.000-07:00

Photos from the "Golden Casket of Earthly Marvels"!

Drawing Power

2010-05-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

"Drawing Power"
Mary Beth Carolan & Robert Reese

Sat. May 22 6-10pm
(dance performance at dusk)
Popps Packing
12138 St. Aubin
Hamtramck

Description
An interactive sculpture that will transform through two stages of
energy. The first stage will be a high energy dance performance.
Dancers silhouettes will be lit with high powered industrial lights
that draw power from the grid. The performance will be viewed from four
different sides of the cube. As night falls the sculpture will
transform into a quieter experience. Solar powered lights will kick on,
drawing power only from the storage provided by the sun that day.
Audience members will be invited to come inside, lounge around, and
gaze at the solar light show.  (Dance by Tzarinas of the Plane)

Bios
Mary Beth Carolan is a multidisciplinary Detroit artist and is the recent recipient
of a 2010 Kresge Community Arts Grant for $9,000.00.  In the fall she will be attending
the University of Michigan Masters of Fine Arts Program.

Robert Reese is currently an industrial electrician at the Ford Rouge
Center. Outside of "working on big machines and poking them with
probes and stuff", he's passionate about building projects. Recent
"volunteer projects" include a scratch built "vacuum forming machine"
for the University of Michigan-Flint's Engineering Science Department
and an "arc vapor deposition chamber, used to create buckyballs and
nanotubes" for UofM-Flint's Physics Department. This year he made a
personal metal-casting furnace and is working with metals. Upcoming
plans include a CNC machine that "uses an additive process to print
three dimensional chocolate sculptures."

Miroslav Cukovic

2010-05-18T13:39:00.000-07:00

"The Golden Casket of Earthly Marvels: Bulging the Question"
May 22 6pm-10pm
Popps Packing
12138 St. Aubin
Hamtramck

Yugoslavian-born American artist, Miroslav Cukovic, a graduate of College for Creative Studies, has exhibited extensively both in North America and Europe. Most recently, he has completed a public project entitled "Hoops" which was made through a grant from the City Council of Maribor. He lives and works in Maribor with his wife Jelena and son Boris.

David Prince

2010-05-18T06:38:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 22

Popps Packing 12138 St. Aubin, Hamtramck

Balloon Launch 7pm

BIO

David Prince is a sculptor, explorer, lumberjack, amateur scientist, community advocate, and inventor, creating artworks in a wide variety of materials and media. His subject matter frequents the topics of ecology, heroism, civic engagement, and impermanence. He received an MFA in Sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2006 and a BA from Colorado College in 2001. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles, CA and is a part-time nomad, living and working from his minivan-studio.

balloon launch : Alternative Energies

The Alternative Energies Project explores themes of resource and energy consumption and investigates creative engineering as a means of inspiring new approaches to how we expend and consume energy. This project encompasses a number of recent installations and performances including my most recent project, balloon launch.

balloon launch was initially inspired by my father's work as an astrophysicist - he would use enormous helium balloons to carry gamma-ray imaging payloads into the upper atmosphere. I’ve always been drawn to the imagery and gesture of releasing these balloons, and today I see it as a metaphor for the greater process of scientific inquiry. In my father’s work, the goal for the payloads was the retrieval of data in the form of gamma-rays. As an artist, I have grown most interested in the release of the balloon itself, as a metaphoric embodiment of the activity of questioning. For me the balloon launch has come to represent a venture into the unknown and the whimsical sense of hope that accompanies scientific investigation.

The balloons are constructed from hand-made, bio-plastic film, designed to be entirely biodegradable due to their composition of cornstarch and corn husk fibers. These images document the successful launch of one of my prototypes, using a combination of hot air and helium propulsion. I am currently developing a solar heating coil that will enable future balloons to rise solely by means of hot air.

My balloon launch project interprets the process of scientific inquiry as an activity based in wonder, and depicts discovery not as an endpoint, but as an opportunity for new openings. Through the launch of these balloons I hope to re-imagine the purpose of technology as a creative force and escape the paradigm that technology exists solely for the sake of commodity. I also aim to illustrate some of the tensions in relationships between human innovation, human consumption and our environmental predicament.

Tzarinas of the Plane

2010-05-18T06:26:00.000-07:00

"Tzarinas of the Plane"
Faina Lerman
Bridget Michael

Tzarinas of the Plain imitate and summon primal modes of communication and expression, relying on our senses to arrive at an experience that is playful and meaningful, yet unexpected. As innate human instincts disappear from a world of mindless distractions, our reactions to these infiltrating voids are evident. Our performances create a space between the real and imagined where we let go of our identities and take on new roles as fantastical creatures in absurd operas of life and death."

The Golden Casket of Earthly Marvels; Bulging the Question

2010-05-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

Well here it is, the collaboration of the decade. The Lot teamed up with Popps Packing to bring you this golden casket. The title was inspired by a text penned by one Benedictus Figulus in the early 1600's. Alchemy, philosophy, the elements, psychopompery - we've got all that and more in this upcoming show.

"The Golden Casket of Earthly Marvels: Bulging the Question"
May 22 6pm-10pm
Popps Packing
12138 St. Aubin
Hamtramck

In the Garden
David Prince "Hot Air Balloon Launch"
Nomad artist Prince brings us an unmanned hot air balloon made entirely from biodegradeable materials. The balloon is an elegant metaphor for a question, and he invites us all to imagine our own questions. Launch at 7pm

Graem Whyte and Scott Hocking "The Hole II"
Prominent Detroit artists Whyte and Hocking bring us Phase II of The Hole. You'll just have to see it.

Design 99 "Heartland Machine"
Husband and Wife Team Gina Reichert & Mitch Cope bring us the Heartland Machine, a project created in conjunction with the Heartland exhibition. They went looking for interesting arts initiatives and interventions throughout the Midwest and photographed/videotaped/documented the people, places and cities who make art in this region to document and export in the most spectacular way. The result is a sculptural self-contained information kiosk showcasing the character active in this region. Also its a sweet boat.

Mary Beth Carolan & Robert Reese "Drawing Power"
as described by Carolan

An interactive sculpture that will transform through two stages of energy. The first stage will be a high energy dance performance. Dancers silhouettes will be lit with high powered industrial lights that draw power from the grid. The performance will be viewed from four different sides of the cube. As night falls the sculpture will transform into a quieter experience. Solar powered lights will kick on, drawing power only from the storage provided by the sun that day. Audience members will be invited to come inside, lounge around, and gaze at the solar light show.

The Tzarinas of the Plane Faina Lerman & Bridget Michael

As mentioned above, there will be a dance performance, and it will be Detroit's Tzarinas of the Plane. Here's what they have to say:

"From all space between the edges and the blood, the Tzarinas emerge from the plains in colors, without pardons to refuse your warmest kisses and exude forgotten delights. Praise and glory are not the ways to enlightenment, instead, despair, confusion, beauty, and joy deliver us to the oneness we seek.

In the Galleries
Miroslav Cukovic "DRAWings"
The ever talented Slovenian artist Cukovic brings drawings that make you want to cry because they are so good and you can't quite put your finger on what it is about them that makes you look at them for so long.

8mm Film Collage by Guillotine Productions
When you run a used record album business, you end up with not just LPs but a variety of older media. Like 8mm films. Hello Records' Wade Kergan, Davin Brainard & Kathy Leisen are Guillotine Productions: specializing in Belle Isle bike rides and film collage.

The Room

2010-05-16T14:40:00.000-07:00

First the weather threatened to fly us all away to Oz
So we invented The Room
Brave people showed up and doodled, and wonderful lecturers filled our minds with the truth about Santa Claus, idealistic problem solving, true and shocking stories from the ER, insight into the Roman Empire and the potential future of Google, the road to achieving Renaissance status, the joys of visiting, how to influence meetings by secret doodling, songs that spellbind, and the role that notes play in our everyday lives.

And now some doodles!

The Lot - Daytime!!

2010-05-05T15:58:00.000-07:00

Drawing in the Margins: The Art of Notetaking

The Lot

3013 Cochrane, North Corktown, Detroit, MI

www.thelotdetroit.blogspot.com

May 8, 2010 ~ 1:00pm-3:30 pm

As we rely less and less on pen and paper in our everyday communications at home, in the office, and in classrooms, the opportunity for doodles and sketched notes decreases. This note-doodling is important, as it becomes a physical representation of our minds at work processing data, and is a uniquely wonderful instance of image and text coming into simultaneous existence as two manifestations of one thing.

To explore these note-doodles and focus, we have created an environment of speakers and note-takers through a series of lectures and lecture-performances. The program features 8 lectures covering a wide range of topics, and we invite you to doodle during them! The price of admission for guests to attend the event will be only that they take notes and draw(doodle). Paper and pens provided.

Featuring Presentations by:
Boye Adegbenro (Odu Afrobeat Orchestra) “Lines Alive”,
Anthony Cruz MD “Sickness, Psychosis and Scandal:
Shocking Shorts from the ER” Mary Beth Carolan “Idealism
& Innovation in Detroit, or, No one listens to a Waitress”
Kat Hartman (cartoon expert), Samuel Gray (mysterious)
William Chan (NYC Lawyer)“Cultural Identity in the Roman
Empire”, Daron Roberts (Asst. Secondary Coach for the
Detroit Lions) “The Myth of Meritocracy” Mikey Henderberg
“Santa Claus is simply an anthropomorphized mushroom”

Musical Intermission at 2pm
by Samantha Linn & Andrew Barrett.

Food by the Woodbridge Pub

Hope to see you there!

SAMUEL GRAY - MYSTERY REVEALED!

2010-04-28T06:01:00.000-07:00

LECTURER
"DRAWING IN THE MARGINS"
MAY 8
1:00PM-3:30PM

Sam Gray is a Richnmond, VA-based writer and musician. Interested in creating a dialogue regarding myth, archetypes, inspiration, creativity, and philosophy, he started The Beautiful Caucus, an organization dedicated to bringing about the first world renaissance. He practices Tai Chi and plays a decent game of ping-pong.
He holds a BA in English from Virginia Commonwealth University, where he also studied photography and film, and plans on attending Cardozo School of Law in New York City this fall.

MARY BETH CAROLAN

2010-04-27T14:45:00.000-07:00

"Drawing in the Margins"
1:00pm - 3:30pm

LECTURE TITLE: "Idealism & Innovation in Detroit, or, No One Listens to a Waitress"

Mary Beth Carolan is an artist living and working in Detroit. She makes art work out of mundane life stuff. She is currently preparing to start a graduate program at University of Michigan. Will she bring the D to the AA or the AA to the D?

Daron Roberts

2010-04-26T14:00:00.000-07:00

LECTURER
"DRAWING IN THE MARGINS"
MAY 8, 1PM - 3:30PM

LECTURE TITLE "THE MYTH OF MERITOCRACY"

Daron Roberts, assistant secondary coach of the Detroit Lions, is a fifth-generation East Texan.

Upon graduation from The University of Texas, he moved to the District of Columbia to work as an aide to Senator Joe Lieberman. After surviving the anthrax scare, Roberts moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to pursue a Master of Public Policy degree from the Harvard Kennedy School. He graduated from the Kennedy School in 2004 and entered Harvard Law School in the fall semester of that same year. In 2007, Roberts graduated from Harvard Law School with a Juris Doctor degree.

During his third year of law school, Roberts decided to pursue a career in football coaching and wrote 164 letters to college and professional football teams. The Kansas City Chiefs offered Roberts a training camp internship for the 2007 season. After completing his internship, he joined the Chiefs in a volunteer capacity and was elevated to the position of defensive quality control assistant in 2008.

After two seasons (2007-08) working with the Kansas City Chiefs, Roberts was hired as the assistant secondary coach of the Detroit Lions.

Roberts started , 4th and 1 (www.4thand1.org) - a free football camp for at-risk high school sophomores in East Texas. The camp combines football training with SAT prep services and life skills development.

Roberts reached his lifetime goal of touching all seven continents on November 23, 2006.

THE ARTISTS BEHIND THE EVENT "DRAWING IN THE MARGINS" Stephanie Hafer and Corwin Levi!!!!

2010-04-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

Stephanie Hafer is a multi-media artist most interested in storytelling. Currently her favorite mediums include video, photography, writing, and the occasional prank call.
She studied fashion design at Virginia Tech and English at University of Colorado in Boulder. She lives in Brooklyn but Detroit holds considerable real estate in her heart.

Corwin Levi is a visual artist who spends his time drawing cloud monsters, making tiny bouquets appear, and exploring terrariums in forests' discarded bottles. He marvels at synaesthesia, the view of the constellations from outside the city, and how many times the letter "i" can be squeezed into shine. In pursuit of such interests, Corwin uses a variety of media including paintings, drawings, children's books, sculpture, and video. He has a BA from Rice University and an MFA from the Tyler School of Art. He is coming to Detroit from residencies in the Czech Republic and The Millay Colony for the Arts earlier this year. Later this summer, he will be participate in a studio residency in Alexandria, VA, followed by an August show at Hillyer Gallery in Washington, DC. Corwin's continuing work can be seen at his website, www.radiosebastian.com.

Anthony Cruz MD

2010-04-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

"Drawing in the Margins"
May 8, 2010
1pm-3:30pm

Lecture Title "Sickness, Psychosis, and Scandal: Shocking Shorts from the ER"

BIO: Anthony Cruz is a native Detroiter and an ER doctor with a budding interest in creative writing. He graduated with a degree in Anthropology from MSU in 1997 and from the University of Michigan Medical School in 2002. His training in emergency medicine was at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Dr. Cruz is also engaged in international emergency medicine; his studies abroad and volunteer efforts have taken him to Zimbabwe, Cuba, and the Philippines. He currently works as an ER doctor at Henry Ford Main and Henry Ford Cottage Hospitals. His wife Jennifer is an Ontario native and RN who also works in the ER at Henry Ford Main. They recently put down roots on the East-side in Grosse Pointe Park.

Anthony Orlando Cruz M.D.
Physician, Emergency Medicine
Henry Ford Health System
Detroit, MI

It's getting close to May, and I think I hear the Tooth Fairy! Oh wait, that's Art Magic.

2010-04-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

MAY 8!!!!!
1pm- 3:30pm

"Drawing in the Margins" is The Lot's first event of the spring/summer 2010 season at your favorite venue, THE LOT 3013 Cochrane Detroit MI USA.

After this event, we are going to be doing things a little differently this year. The following event May 22 is going to be a collaboration with Popps Packing in Hamtramck. We are looking to spread our wings, and in the future, events at The Lot will not be restricted to this one neighborhood. We will be finding other empty lots and spaces that could use a little art magic.

As promised, we'll be rolling out spotlights on our lecturers for
"Drawing in the Margins"!

"Spring Blossoms, or Unicorn Pencil Head"

2010-04-14T17:05:00.000-07:00

Man I love spring. Everything seems to appear overnight, there's suddenly plops of green everywhere, and those white blossom trees really make it hard to be in a *%##!# mood.

It also doesn't hurt that the next show at The Lot is going to be....pretty much awesome. Let me break it down for you.

Stephanie Hafer and Corwin Levi are artists living in NYC and Mysteryville, Virginia respectively, and they proposed a show that I like very much.

"Drawing in the Margins" is an event about celebrating the act of doodling and about celebrating an unlikely collection of lecturers. This show allows us to role-play in a familiar scene: you're in school and there's someone talking and you're doodling. But this is better because you're outside in a cool empty lot and it brings together a seemingly random group of people in our community and we get to use our brains and have fun.

For me as an event planner, "Drawing in the Margins" allows me to get meta and playful as we envision surreal sets from which the speakers can lecture and I'm on my quest for a keyboardist (for the music in between presenters of course). Our panel of lecturers runs the gamut from an assistant coach for the Detroit Lions to an ER doctor to a self described Hippie McGuyver.

Over the next few weeks leading up to the event we're going to get to know them on this blog. Thank goodness for blogs.

PS Mark your calendars for May 8th, 1pm-3:30pm

A magical way to end a magical summer

2009-09-03T07:02:00.000-07:00

I can't believe the summer is over. The weather was surprisingly mild for us Michigan folk, which made for some lovely lovely days, but boy did it go by fast.

This last show asked more questions than it answered, and it was a fitting way to go into autumn, a season I always find as a time for reflection. The performance by MGM could not be contained by the physical space of The Lot, and it spilled out into the sidewalk, the street, and even my neighbor's house. A mix of synchronicity and improvisation, the dancers took us through a chopped up narrative, but the story was up to us to imagine. My favorite reactions were bemused smiles and questioning head-tilts. The music of Inca Ore is difficult to categorize. It feels as much as it sounds. The unrestrained vocals of Eva Salens guided us into the dark of the evening, and the flute.... The flute was the perfect sound to hear in that lot, to make us think about magic maybe. Or just to be.

It was indeed, magical.

Sigh, The End of Summer

2009-08-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

The last show of the summer is here, and its going to be a

MAGICAL EVENING
Wednesday August 26
7-9pm (sundown)

7pm
MGM
MGM, or Modern Garage Movement, is the collaborative endeavor between Felicia Ballos, Biba Bell, Jmlly Leary, and Robert McNeil. The project uses dance and music to explore the relationships between disappearance, endurance and metamorphosis. MGM is a group of dancers that tour across the country like a rock n roll band with a cowboy attitude, performing in garages, yards and galleries. This performance is the last hurrah of their August residency in Detroit, so don't miss it!

Sunset Performance
INCA ORE
Inca Ore is the music project born to Eva Salens on her 25th birthday. She cites birthdays as a creative inspiration, as well as her neighbors in Oakland, CA which include preteen sisters, the mentally ill, Vietnamese families with a penchant for karaoke, and even a clairvoyant bad witch. her muses give an insight to her music existing as a "weave of oddities", and she describes her songs as "guided by ideas of gospel and centered around emotional and spiritual themes but playfully boogie with goofy touches and punctures of highness."

Neighbors

2009-08-20T06:25:00.000-07:00

Please check out this article about my neighbors, the Kings! Howard King is The Lot's landscaper, neighbor, and friend. The website is http://www.detroitblog.org/ and look for the header "Animal Farm" August 5, 2009

Lost in Lights Seeking Encore

2009-08-18T07:37:00.001-07:00

What a great show. The Lot was happy to be right where it was, in an evening of being in the moment and watching stellar performances. I only wish blogs came with audio.

PEAKING LIGHTS

REGRESSION

Lost in Lights

2009-08-13T07:57:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 14 8-10pm
Friday Evening! Let's sit in the grass. Well, let's put down mats in the grass and sit on those. These two performances are going to feel good, i just know it.

Regression at 9pm! or as soon as it gets dark enough to see video projections!

Regression is an audio/visual experience masterminded by Detroit artists/musicians Alivia Zivich, Nate Young, and Mike Collino. Zivich and Young also work under the moniker Demons with Steve Kenney, and run an art and music label in Detroit, AA Records. Collino plays haunting violin in his solo project DOG LADY. Zivich is the video genius, crafting beautiful and hypnotic visual fields out of the sonic frequencies made by Young (who also performs in the band Wolf Eyes) while Collino adds his damaged melodies. The video and the music happen live, and experiencing the union will make you a better person.

Peaking Lights at 8pm!
Messed up Pop Music from Madison, WI
Rare sighting of these mystical creatures that live in rocks

Peaking Lights (Madison, WI) are a married couple that make self-described f*cked modern pop music. Reviews of their music often cite their marital bliss as the reference point for “sparks of warm fuzz” and “delicate psychedelia”. Making their own synthesizers and employing lo-fi recording techniques, Aaron Coyes and Indra Dunis work in that magical land where art and music become one. The duo practice and record in a barn on the outskirts of town designed by a Frank Lloyd Wright disciple, and they run an eclectic resale store called the Good Style Shop that also serves as a spot for live music in downtown Madison. Let the sounds shower us with our own happiness.

Neo Country Heat Wave washes over Frog Mountain!

2009-08-10T18:11:00.000-07:00

The rain brought the heat in full effect on Sunday, but we were ready for it. We had a snow tipped mountain and a big scoop of stroh's ice cream brought by the artists: Davin Brainard and Chris Kerr. Coincidentally my neighbors were having their own party, a fire hydrant water party! The parties quickly became one as The Lot patrons ran through the water finding relief from the heat and the kids discovered the art show, playing putt-putt and eating lemons out of the punch. It was lovely.
"1,000 Frogs" by Davin Brainard is a 20ft mountain of a painting, constructed entirely on site with the help of Michael Kearns. It is truly a sight to behold, rivaling the neon lights of the Motor City Casino just blocks away. Frog Mountain challenges us in a mysterious way, but the secret of Frog Mountain is in the frogs. Playing, pointing, napping and showing off their behinds, the frogs show us the world we want to be in. Brainard will be adding more and more frogs the month of August, so keep your eyes posted for more!

Chris Kerr and DeeDee Scacci came from Chicago with a truck full of love and an astounding array of lawn art. An impressive 9 hole putt putt course featured bridges over sand, a Michigan lake with lillypads and my favorite, a Better Made HOT chip bag complete with some leftover chips on the grass! Cut-outs of muscle cars, ice cream cones and the Original Vernors Leprechan brought us to our senses. We didn't know it before, but this is Neo Country, and The Lot is a city in that beautiful land.

Frog Mountain in a Neo Country RESCHEDULED FOR SUNDAY!!! 3PM-6PM!!!

2009-08-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

Well, you can't stop the rain. It's good for many many things, but art openings in empty lots is not one of them.

But we won't cry about it, we just moved the the opening party for
"Frog Mountain in a Neo Country" to tomorrow!

SUNDAY August 9 from 3PM-6PM!!

It's going to be even more fun tomorrow!

Davin Brainard and Chris Kerr have really outdone themselves this time.
The artwork is astounding!
Seeing is believing in regards to Davin's mountain of a painting entitled "1,000 Frogs"
and lawn games abound with Chris Kerr, including an entire 9 hole putt-putt featuring Detroit icons like Better Made potato chips and Ford VS Chevy!

The smiles and photo opportunities are going to be in full effect.
Be ready.

See you tomorrow!!!

Frog Mountain in a Neo Country

2009-08-02T11:08:00.000-07:00

The Lot is jaminating like a bass player in a sweet qualude pop band, and the next show is like another scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream on a big ole sugar cone.
That means Good.

The show is called "Frog Mountain in a Neo Country" and features two artists and their sculptural paintings and painterly sculptures. Both artists are making site-specific (and weather-proof) artworks that will be installed for the month of August, taking advantage of The Lot's unique position as a combination of a gallery and a Public Art Site.

The opening is Saturday August 8!
From 6-9pm!
Lawn Games!
Fun!
Music!

Here is some more information about the artists:

Davin Brainard
Davin Brainard’s work spreads across the genres of painting, sculpture, noise music, performance, and video. His images include clouds, tanks, and unicorns, and possess a magically mischievous quality. Brainard is a core member of the collective Time Stereo and is the gallery director of Detroit’s UFO Factory. He performs in the noise band project Princess Dragonmom, which brings unicorns and swords across the globe.
In this exhibition, Brainard gives us a 20 foot tall painting entitled "1,000 FROGS".

Chris Kerr
Chris Kerr is a painter and sculptor in Chicago, IL and is the originator of the art movement Neo Country: “exploring the connection between illiteracy and text based art.” His work rotates between immediate drawings/paintings and intricate sculptural scenes that include snowy ski-lift backdrops, forests, and strip-clubs. Kerr teaches at Columbia College in Chicago and the
Ox-Bow School of Art and Artist Residencies in Saugatuck, MI. In this exhibition, Kerr brings us his selection of Detroit icons in the form of lawn games.

Performance Photos!!

2009-07-29T18:39:00.000-07:00

Words will not do to describe these amazing performances.
We need photos.

JAMIE EASTER

PETER DOBILL

Check out the fabulous article in the Metro Times

2009-07-22T10:58:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,
Performance Art Weekend is SATURDAY july 25 8pm JAMIE EASTER
and SUNDAY July 26 3pm PETER DOBILL
(NOT FRIDAY NIGHT!)
Hope to see you all there!

Chris Turner and The Lot Letters

2009-07-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

Artist Profile
CHRIS TURNER

The Lot letters have become a face and a personality for this project, and I’d like to highlight the artist who created them. Chris Turner envisioned the letters after seeing a photoshop picture I had put together that featured a wintry empty lot with gigantic white letters. He said, what if I do that? He made the “L”, and I was in awe.

The letters have personality. They are funny and warm. They make people smile. They possess a presence that is equally monumental and inviting, and The Lot would not be the same without them.

Chris Turner has vision. He is a very talented sculptor and painter, and one of my favorite things about him is his sense of humor. As we talked about his inspiration for the letters, he cited the 2007 documentary “Helvetica”, a film that takes a look at the psychology of design and explores the influence and dominant presence of the Helvetica font in western culture. THE LOT letters are based on Helvetica, which Turner describes as “the Little Richard of fonts”.

He also talked about the way the letters evoke that Sesame Street feeling. When I think about Sesame Street, I think: safe, steps, inviting, solid, playful yet practical….. I also immediately think of Big Bird, but Turner says Grover was his favorite. Because he had two identities: super and non-super. And because Grover acted a little funny, like maybe he had a drinking problem, always falling down in an Un-Muppet-like way.

(Chris Turner) “When I was a kid, things were different in those days. You know, I always liked running around, shooting pop cans. I didn’t even start making art until I was 30. I would make stuff in my head, and then once I actually started making it, I realized I could do this every day for 100 years and never get bored.”

PERFORMANCE ART WEEKEND!!!

2009-07-21T06:29:00.000-07:00

This weekend is a can't miss show. Believe me.

July 25th
Saturday 8pm
Jamie Easter brings us a performance reaching into untapped regions of music composition and choreography, reducing our brains to jelly as our eyes mist with joy. Join us.

Sunday July 26
Peter Dobill
3pm-Sundown

An unforgettable performance by NYC artist Peter Dobill beginning at 3pm - sundown. Dobill works solo inside intricate installations, often made of natural material. His work evokes an impression both tribal and gothic, and the effect is a dark and hynotic spell.

Check him out at www.peterdobillactionist.com

Opening Photos!

2009-07-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

For those of you who weren't there, The Lot celebrated its opening with a fabulous performance by Mary Beth Carolan, who singled-handedly created a new genre for cooking shows with her piece, "Cooking with Power Tools".

The menu:

Lemon & Pepper Tilapia
Garlic Coconut Mashed Potatoes (Sweet and Idaho)
Garlic Bread
Salad. Tossed.
Cake. Frosted

With the aid of her assistant Tommy and her personal DJ Johnny Saco, Mary Beth prepared this meal in front of a spellbound audience at the Lot using..... power tools!

She used a bench press to squeeze the lemons. She used a chop saw to cut the baguette. She used a potato shooter to toss the salad clear across the yard. She chopped the fish with an ax (i know, not powered, but certainly dramatic). She used an industrial grate to mash the potatoes, a drywall trowel to frost the cake, and to light the candles she used a blow torch.

Seriously. It was amazing and funny and it ruled. The best part was, the food tasted great! There wasn't anything left after audience members took to the buffet.

Photos!

2009-07-13T10:21:00.000-07:00

Early American Settlers said "When in Doubt, go the Artsy Route"!

2009-07-07T14:15:00.000-07:00

Here we are, only a few days until the opening! I am stoked about the possibilities of flying lettuce, and of course, the christening the Lot. I got really pumped about this Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, so much so that I started daydreaming about oversize keys.... but I was like, What, am I gonna be the mayor and then give myself the key? You know, that's just silly.

So I then mused on ceremonies of this nature: Groundbreakings, Keys to the City, and Ribbon Cutting Ceremonies. The first two I get, but where does a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony come from? Like any other good American Citizen, I posed my question to the Internets. An hour later I was angry, finding that familiar hollow feeling that comes with wasting an hour of perfectly good time on some random internet search. There I was, staring at giant gold plated scissors on www.ceremonialscissors.com. Seriously.

Other than a few vague references to "Edwardian times", the Library was no help either. So then I was like, you know what? That's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna get my Phd in American Culture Studies, and then I'll know all about this whole ribbon cutting thing, and by the way, who really was Johnny Appleseed anyways? I got pretty fired up.

But then I came to my senses and thought, nah, actually I think I'll stick with this "outdoor experimental art space" thing and just make up my own Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.

Mary Beth Carolan

2009-07-07T13:52:00.001-07:00

"COOKING WITH POWER TOOLS" 8PM!!!
FRIDAY JULY 10

Mary Beth Carolan is one of those people that make life more exciting. She is one of those people that hold a fascinating array of personality traits that seem like they should be contradictions, but actually compliment each other. Light and dark, serious and silly.....In short, she is truly unique. We are all in for a treat this Friday, so show up with smile.

The Grand Opening of the Lot JULY 10

2009-06-30T08:18:00.000-07:00

After months of planning, digging rocks and painting oversize letters, The Lot is
open for business. Art business. One empty lot in North Corktown is now an
outdoor art space and the summer calendar is chock full of amazing artists and
events. Come to celebrate its unveiling! There will be a ribbon cutting
ceremony at 8pm followed by a live performance by Detroit artist Mary Beth Carolan.

2009-06-24T09:41:00.000-07:00