First Friday at the 543
Robert (Robo) Mertens in a mailbox near you.
I picked up my mail from the dining room table, walked upstairs, and only later, when I was fixing my hair and getting ready to leave, did I glance at the cover of the quarterly magazine of the University of Oregon Architecture & Allied Arts Review. There on the floor of my bedroom was a photograph of my housemate, Robo! I was so excited that I immediately picked up my phone to inform Robo that he was famous. He already knew. Being overly humble, he did not bother telling anyone that he was a rock star.
Mertens’ performance, “Limiting Order,” in the LaVerne Krauss Gallery of Spring 2010, explored the use of constraints as a means to produce greater freedom and creativity. The white purity of the art gallery was echoed in Mertens’ choice of materials helping to blur the distinctions of folk craft and high art. Through crocheting and then unraveling Mertens deliberately subverts the assumption that one crochets in order to produce something, thereby shifting the attention from the production of an item to the action of crocheting. Follow the link to see more photographs of “Limiting Order” and read about the performance in Mertens’ own words.
Resident artist, Jenny (Eugenia) Kroik, also makes an appearance in this issue of the A&AA Review, with one of her paintings on p. 15. Her seemingly cheerful and whimsical paintings were well received in her MFA program and she has since shown her work in several galleries.
And much to my own surprise (brought to my attention as Mr. Mertens was reading his copy of the A&AA Review), I also managed to sneak my way into this issue in a short blurb about the Oregon Art Review that I co-founded with fellow graduate student, Laura Kilian (p. 20). This project which is being carried on by graduate students in the Art History Department and the University of Oregon Libraries was created to provide a forum for graduate students from across the nation to present innovative research. The online format has the potential to create a new model of academic publishing that allows people to present their ideas in an environment which fosters dialogue and a deeper examination of the art and research. More to come on this project as things develop.
Coming soon: Sight. Sound. Synergy. Comments on the collaborative performances from the MFA program and School of Music and Dance
Living in a House of Art
543:
543 is a house, an artist residency, and an idea. Six individuals brought together by art, music, and friendship live in one large green house. 543 is an innovative space where we live and create simultaneously. Each resident’s distinct knowledge, skills, and strengths enhance and inform the other housemates and helps develop our work as individuals and as a group.
The house consists of eleven rooms, five of which are bedrooms, five are studio spaces, and the remaining one is a music/band room. The Toilettes Gallery, located in the basement near four of the studio spaces, has a rotating monthly exhibition schedule. This narrow bathroom has been converted into unique gallery space that challenges artist to create site-site specific art installations. We participate in the First Friday Lane County Art Walk and Last Friday Whiteaker Art Walk and coordinate with the Bus 34 Art Traveling Art Project for some exhibit openings.
Meet my housemates:
Paige, Lyle, Robo, and Jessica are MFA students at the University of Oregon working with a range of mediums from painting, digital arts, fibers, sculpture, sound art, performance, and installation art. Matt is the whiz kid who makes everything electronic in the house work and holds degrees in subjects that give him qualifications for such a job. A recent UO MFA graduate, Jenny, also has a studio space in our house. I am the resident historian, with a BA in Music and a MA in Art History. By day, I have a normal desk job, but by night I play music, knit, sew, cook, read, write, and draw.
“Untitled”
People often ask me “What is it like living in a house full of artists?” The simple answer: Awesome. Because the chances of MTV loving my “Real World Eugene” idea are almost non-existent, “Untitled” provides a more complete answer to that question, examining the intellectual, social, and emotional experience of living in a house full of amazing and creative individuals. We have already been living in our massive green house for two months and I need to have some record of, what I know will be, one of the most memorable and exciting living experiences of my life. I will fill these virtual pages with images and writing about our art, house events, and daily life based on my own experience and perspective. Welcome into the 543 artist residency experience!
