the new work...bits and pieces

making use of Ready Made Abstraction or fashioning one myself then using it as a relief printing plate or as a stencil for
litho. the plates are copies of the pickguards from my 62' Strat reissue ((89' American)) and an 89 G&L SB-1 bass. i'm intrested in the potential to take an object and repeat it's form until it becomes an 'instrument' of it's own abstraction. reminds me of Chladni Patterns or Cymatics, something i worked on in the mid 90's. i had a room in my apartment that was tuned to Bb and i made a few paintings using the sound furnished by the space, and some amplified stringed instruments.
sorry, no images of that...only a memory.

what up daddy?

checking in...with myself? good news is that i'm printing at the St. Louis Artist's Guild because Gina Alvarez has asked me to become an artist in residence.
i'm working on music and printmaking for this residency.

above image is from a current series that i'll be working through. right now it's relief and waterless litho but i'm trying some etching in the lab. this will be a productive summer in isolation and i'm looking forward to it. happy father's day btw!

here's a SONG

Guest appearance by woodcut, letterpress, relief print expert

Since I was disturbed from a post not quite a year ago I've been teaching printmaking at East Central College. Printmaking was my major for two degrees in art and I have always held a super geeky interest in it even if my art has wandered through many forms. As for teaching, I have taught printmaking for close to a decade and it always amazes me when I meet people who create a niche existence in this particularly unforgiving and most surprisingly beautiful art form. Eric Woods is an artist who has created a livelihood making hand made prints for industry and art through his business,
The Firecracker Press.
I first met Eric through a multi media project called Poetry Scores. Since getting back to printmaking I felt compelled to ask him to do a lecture and demo for my students at East Central. Eric has always been willing to share his craft, art and business with the community since I've known him and he responded as I thought he would, even with his busy schedule. My angle is to invite artists from various backgrounds in printmaking that give purpose beyond the classroom and can share a unique knowledge in the form. Most importantly, the experts I select have found a methodology that is unique and successful. While success is part of my golden rule; it's the strange and beautiful result that is most interesting. In this session with Eric we learned about woodcuts, posters, books, digital imaging, type, running a print business and working on a late 18th century Chandler & Price relief press. I will have a follow up post about Tom Reed's visit soon. Special thanks to Eric Woods for making time for my students and creating a community in print. Look for The Firecracker Press during the Southern Graphics Council art conference this March 16-19, 2011.

mini round-up

the end of the fall semester 2010 brought an opportunity to place my work in a faculty exhibition. i treated the show as an experiment in staging works that employ strategies in music/sound and art. some of the work is new and some was made within the last two years.


the foreground sculpture is a song fragment. i think of it as a silent song. it's made from 1" torch cut steel plate and weighs a lot for such a little thing...kind of like the song it comes from. in the background you can see a text based work that is derived from the same song but is made from a different set of words. it is a large format inkjet print made from a torch cut, intaglio print.


this work is called guitar circle. i like thinking of it as a guitar drawing with a nod to guitar player/singer songwriters in the title.


this piece is from a set 5 actions i did in 2009-10. this one is called guitar drop duet in a & d. when i was doing this work i had in mind the early work of Richard Serra, namely the little film loop where he tries to grab a piece of falling lead - Hand Catching Lead.

Printmaking and the "Grand Scale"

A couple posts back I talked about chainsaws and good cheap vodka. I keep thinking about the title and how it grates on me, how quickly I decided I wasn't making art. Off The Art Clock apparently illustrates an amnesia of personal creative history.

Recently, I was sifting through some flat files to make way for new work when I came across a series of 4-color photo lithographs from grad school. The series contains images of the grind, working on a kitchen line. I put myself through two university degrees by slinging hash.

While making puffy tacos in a small Texmex kitchen I pondered the magic of the lithographic stone. During the summer of 94' I was fortunate enough to have a brief but immeasurable encounter with Ronald Binks . Binks had agreed to take me on as an independent study that summer, before I shipped to the midwest. Binks cut a large figure and he was relentless in his instruction on the "Grand Scale". I shook my head in agreement during our sessions, so that he would continue, and perhaps a few more pearls would drop. My head was spinning with contemporary art nomenclature, from the lectures of Francis Colpitt, and I was coming to grips with my own interests and how they fit into the art world puzzle. I was wrestling with the personal narrative, the here and now and trying to comply with the Binks/Colpitt accounts of Minimalism, Rome, Albers, German Neo-expressionism, Golub and Judd. I made a lot of work that summer but I was going down divergent paths, listening and reacting to everything. It didn't help that the girl friend situation was a hurling locomotive, over the cliff, car wreck, earth quake..., and I was numbing myself with lithotine and living off black bean tacos and the ink under my nails.

I came right off the press and into St. Louis finding a familiar spot, working at Ciscero's. I think the change in scenery, the quiet, almost lonely and religious air of the studio, coupled with the Ciscero's sphere, helped bring about a new relationship between the "Grand Scale" and a humble life in servitude. I began to understand the language of the WPA printmakers as it pertained to my situation. I was "grandly" poor - check one. I had a new found interest in Dox Thrash - check two, and I was working in tandem with my piers Tom Huck and Howard Paine - check three, four. Tom was and still is producing prints steeped in the topics and mannerisms of early Renaissance and modern printmakers. His language, fortified by the masters, embellishes on the colloquial. I was attending critiques and learning that Tom's work wasn't much appreciated at the time, for it's embrace of printmaking history and I feared the same torture from professors who held the key to becoming contemporary artists.

Howard went about it through digital means. I followed Howard's approach because it was a method I hadn't become familiar with and saw it as an avenue to make "correct" (forward thinking) art. Howard had developed a process of color separation in photo lithography, this was before it became common in the graphic arts. Howard was very generous in sharing his secret and I soon began putting together a language that combined life and art with the study of printmaking on the "Grand Scale".

Images are a selection from the WPA series 94'.

most songs

Still thinking about songs and art. Terry Allen said to me over the phone that songs are the same as art. I take that for the truth and ponder the meaning and construction of songs in the same vein. When writing a song I'm channeling the content and living
the words but sometimes the thought gets away from me. Sometimes the song gets put away until I feel it again. I may answer
a question a thousand times and If the question persists then I usually feel that much closer and obligated to finishing the thought or at least and more times than not, riding a slippery thought to a viable conclusion. That's how songs are made, out of the living and sleeping of everyday life. Making a song takes an awareness of the self and a proclivity in putting that into words with a melody and hook. Like Terry said, art does the same thing and yet some questions still remain. Here's a new song for the occasion: confusion

my rifle, my pony and me

just a nice evening hymn by Larry Bulawsky...
image and audio from forth coming project.

off the art clock

Moonlighting as a wood chopper.
Kent Gray was part owner of the Famous Bar with is brother at one time. Before that he made himself into a chef. You might suspect we have a lot to talk about. While working on stacking logs or boulders we might share a recipe for food or beverage. Today we made a pile of wood and respectfully cut trees. Earlier we removed vines, moved boulders, built walls, made waterfalls and anything that's a little crazy or too dirty for white collar work. I'd recommend the Stihl MS391 for eating wood.
Kent and I came up with Ruskova for a good martini or an all purpose "on the rocks" drink with lemon or lime.

Making sculpture out of song...not just sound I might add. What is a song you say? There's many opinions and I'll add mine to the mix - song: some words strung together with a good amount of conviction and honesty and maybe a little loosen-up juice along with some chord intervals and a beat. Sculpture at it's basic has a conveyed scale, weight and material or maybe lacks one or more of these. It may or may not take up space but it probably addresses the topic of space as it has volume, gravity, specific gravity (a dimensionless quantity) or a measured displacement. With this juxtapose I have looked into a forced commonality between sculpture and song. I remember Ron Laboray talking about my work and making up a great term on the spot for this propensity - alien relation. Given that these sculptural letters are made of 1" thick steel, there's a measured weight. The song on the other hand can only convey weight by achieving an emotional and physical connection through a righteous beat, a great guitar hook and for lack of a better term - poetic and heartfelt lyrical dysfunction. Here's the song.

Labor Day

studio time

strings hold damp vibration and hand struggles with anger and guilt... not good enough. heat, stupid hand. there's more important things but hand wants guitar.

http://www.box.net/shared/r6obaxggbb

tobin sprout

a nice surprise happened when i googled tobin sprout. i've been waiting 7 anos for his return and i'm very psyched about the new album - the blue birds of happiness tried to land on my shoulder. from what i can tell he hasn't changed his approach to playing and song writing. some would say that tobin writes the way pop songs should be written but i'm saying this is my mantra for the summer. i'd like to think that his music forms perfect intimate gem-like circles around the reality of the day. it makes me want to crawl into my musical space and craft or rather bash perfect little diamonds too.

links via YouTube:
1 - pretty - the blue birds of happiness tried to land on my shoulder
2 - and the alma mater GUIDED BY VOICES - circa MAG EARWHIG

Father's Day

Towns and Ties #3

Brett Williams makes video, audio, performance, sculpture and installation and sometimes collaborates with me in Nosey Parker. I recently made it to his wonderfully air conditioned studio that he shares with his artist wife Jamie Kraher. Brett and I have a long history in collaboration that runs the gamet of new media. We've used guns and utopian architecture to express a uniquely American solidarity that was founded on the principles of Platonic ideals. Recently Brett has been active in high definition video and methods of displaying his thoughtfully crafted sequences so as to disrupt the preciousness of his art. When an artist uses video, more than likely audio has a significant presence. Brett creates soundscapes that mimic or join the flow of his quirky jump cut video creations. Jump cuts are like guitar riffs in early nineties indie rock found in the likes of Fugazi or Mission of Burma. Later we might hear this in bands such as Square Pusher or Climax Golden Twin. Brett's video's used to take the form of ridiculous self commercials. In these videos the artist might wear a beach towel cape while running through an empty gymnasium in front of seated on-lookers or he might be siting on the toilet nude while eating peanut butter. Later we see only his name paired with seemingly stupid moving graphics and an obnoxious soundtrack of home made instruments and electronic noize. Recently Brett has transitioned into combining video with discreet objects while maintaining the "lowfi" aesthetic in conjunction with very complicated new media processes. He likes to defy the glory of well made video and audio by translating it through shitty 2W speakers and old CRT screens but he's equally as interested in screening in well made video rooms with HiFi sound. It's the possibility of presence that interests this artist and I hope to continue in dialogue and possibly make some more free spirited shit with him.

Black James

There was a band out of Portland, Maine called The Mother Fucking Shit. I picked up their vinyl at Vintage Vinyl sometime in 95'. They were indie, putting work out through holes in their pockets. I'll never forget putting the record on for Mike DeLeon, his expression much the same as mine on first listen. An appreciation for a band that can fulfill the namesake and here's a St. Louis by way of Tennessee version - Black James.

You can check Black James out at the Sci Fi Lounge on March.19th.

Another take on Smokin' in the Cockpit + video snippet

Sometimes there are fortunate outcomes to knowing creative people. Sometimes these people are generous in themselves and sometimes they bring others who also have gifts to share. Virginia Lee Hunter, a friend of Larry Bulawsky, came to my opening with her camera. This was a very nice surprise. Not only did Larry bring his talent as a performer - front man and guitar player, he also brought Virginia, a highly accomplished film maker, photographer, lecturer and there's likely more.

Here's the link to Virginia's take on Smoke in the Cockpit: 1

Here's a link to Virginia's art/business site: 2

Here's a video short of the performance:
Video was shot by Tim Meehan and to see the entire video please visit the Regional Arts Commission gallery

The night Tony Renner attacked my guitar

There's a slew of things that happened the night of 1/15/10...most of which I was oblivious to. I was stuck in my own call and response world, catching glimpses of performance from my collaborators that I just had to shake my head at, in a good way...like a double take, you know the kind where you're a little shocked and you can't quite find the proper response. That's the way I felt anyway. I was stuck in an unrehearsed performance.

All my collaborators are great showmen and they also happen to possess a skill in handling the guitar. I've seen them on many nights, many bars with many drinks and it has been my perception that they have magical abilities.

It was good to see other people with this magical ability in the audience and they affirmed my thoughts that Smoke in the Cockpit worked...the idea was sound (pun intended).


Some of my favorite quotes of the evening:

Paul Ha - “It looks like the Grand Ole Opry”.

Paul was responding to the pre-performance equipment arrangement as in Susan Schultz’s picture of guitars lying against amplifiers. Though I’ve never been to the Opry I think the guitar is fundamental if not iconic to the Opry much like it is in my work.

Sara Tolch - “Sure...I’ll go see Robert’s new band...”.

Sara has been a friend for a number of years once she entered my life through her marraige with Andy Tolch. My wife Susan relayed this little gem of a quote after our performance and it could speak to the look on Sara’s face when she realised that
maybe this band wasn’t what she’s accustomed to. I think the story is that Sara wasn’t planning on going out but Andy mentioned my performance and she rallied to give her support. Sara, I hope you still enjoyed the band.

Tom Buescher - “Robert, you’re going to believe this....I forgot my guitar”.

This quote came by phone moments before taking the stage. Tom was en route retrieving his instrument. The pre-performance jitters or just a head-full of thoughts. Whatever the cause of Tom’s forgetfullness the performance wasn’t comprimised. I just mentioned the incident to the audience before we started...tossing it into the closet of rock n roll stories. I told Tom to take his time, be safe and jump on in when he gets back.

Mike Burgett - “It’s like sex when you’re old”

More or less. Like You’re the man and the guitar is the woman and you’re not going to get much out of this pairing unless you take your time. Mike was ellaborating on the musical score I provided in english. The goal was to make it last as long as possible but to also be aware of the other performers. To react as a group and as a couple trying to have quality time. There was some partner sharing but I guess in an unrehearsed frenzy there’s bound to be some of that.


I enjoyed the performance but I also took in a lot of information regarding guitar equipment, recording tips, the secrets of guitar players and audio engineers. I am also overwhelmed by the support from my collaborators and the art community. I will have a video of the performance installed at RAC soon and must thank Tim Meehan for handling the camera work. Please come by and see the video and leftovers of the performance, my sculpture and the work of the other artists involved in the exhibition.

Let’s do it again!


Susan Schultz took these photos:

SMOKE IN THE COCKPIT - rehearsal

I'm posting these shots because I may never get around to it later. The whole crew will perform Jan. 15, 2010 - 7pm at the Regional Arts Commission. Tonight -Mike Burgett, Tom Buescher, Sherman S. Sherman and myself ran through a sound check for the performance on Friday. The whole crew will be Larry Bulawsky, Tom Buescher, Mike Burgett, Robert Goetz, Jason Hutto, Tony Renner and Sherman S. Sherman. Collectively we're known as Smoke In The Cockpit. More on that later.