Tuesday, February 10, 2004

phase 2: ross harvey art project Phase 2 of the Ross Harvey Art project was an unqualified success on many fronts. But like all guerilla art projects, it wasn't without its glitches and tense moments. At first there was the dilemma of where to install the piece, with the limited (afterwork) daylight available.  Once I got home there were only minutes to work with, so I quickly grabbed the tasmanian sprinkler head and my camera and walked out the door. My initial idea for placement was somewhere in front of the State Theatre where all the punk bands play and all the cool kids hang out.  But there weren't really a lot of great spots, and there seemed to be dozens of people walking everywhere, ready to ask me what the hell I was doing.   6:27:13 PM    comment []

I made an attempt here nevertheless.  I placed the devil head in a crevice of the building at ankle level and tried to douse it with the insulation foam.  But murphy's law struck!  The foam tube was clogged from last nights previous use.  Only a tiny and useless string of goo emerged.  Drats! I thought.  I tried to clear the tube by wiping it with bits of paper but it wouldn't open up.  Meanwhile, I could feel people all around me as I engaged in my frantic and suspicioius behavior. So I retrieved the devil head and my foam and scurried away looking for another location.  All the while, the foam tube was continuing to emit its little string of goo from the built up pressure.  One touch of that goo on my fingers and my sensuous lovemaking hands would be ruined! So I scoped out a secondary location: behind the Emerald Bar.  This would be ideal because this establishment holds "avant garde" art shows here on a monthly basis.  The various dilletantes and art posers would be exposed to this work when they came out back to smoke their pot and other nefarious substances.  I examined the various cracks and crevices for just the right spot.  In the meantime, I had to get the nozzle situation fixed.  So, I hid my devil head and foam can and ran up to this convenience store.  There I immediately spotted a pair of scissors for $1.49.  I rushed back to the installation zone and cut the nozzle in half. But drats!  The can had oozed foam upon itself in my absence and now the wretched goo was on my tender lovemaking hands.  I did my best to rub it off against a tree.  I was mostly successful but some traces remained. In the meantime old women were spilling out of the Holocaust museum 30 yards away and my behavior couldn't have been more questionable.  I looked frantically  for a place to intall Ross Harvey's art project.  I tried to jam in in between pipes, between buildings, by doorsteps,etc.  And then I found just the spot!  The devil head fit just perfectly inside this yellow, cylindrical steel post.  It enhanced the post without interfering with its function.  Plus, the post brought Ross Harvey's art project much closer to eye level.  It looked like a natural hiding place for the head, a la Oscar the Grouch.   It was simply ideal.  I took my pictures quickly and then escaped to my durango. 6:17:08 PM    comment []

© Copyright 2004 Mark Michaels. Last update: 3/1/2004; 8:15:51 AM.