Odd Jobs At The Nomadic Fungi Institute

As the archivist at the Nomadic Fungi Institute my duties have turned out to be much more complex than just putting old news paper clipping into folders and putting the folders into file cabinets. For example, the NFI just launched their new NFI logo. To mark the occasion we hand printed a limited edition of NFI artists trading cards. Fifteen of these we sent to the Art.Science.Gallery event Art/Science Trading Cards. The remaining cards will be given out at up coming art events, while others will be used as thank you gifts to new NFI members.

Better wash the ink off my hands before going back to stuffing news paper clipping into files and sticking files into filing cabinets.

SculptCAD Rapid Artists 3D Printed Sculpture

The SculptCAD Rapid Artists Project was organized by Nancy Hairston in 2010 as a way to showcase the versatility of rapid prototyping 3D printing. Each year she has asked artists to come to the  SculptCAD offices and learn how to use this technology, then make some art.

The SculptCAD Rapid Artists 3D Printed Sculpture show at the One Arts Plaza is a quick sampling of some of the artwork that has been produced over the years. This show was presented to dove tail with the Aurora Dallas event. Artist in the show are: Steven Hopwood Lewis, Shane Pennington, Heather Gorham, Patty Delarios, Shawn Smith, Mark Grote, Morehshan Allahyari, Dave Van Ness, Joshua Goode, Elliot Johnson, Shelle Carring, Joshua King, and myself, Brad Ford Smith.

Below are a few snaps from the exhibit.

Brad Ford Smith

Brad Ford Smith - Servings is a nod to the Balloon Dog sculpture by Jeff Koons.

Heather Gorham

Heather Gorham - Is it a circus trick or a view of the universe?

Elliot Johnson

Elliot Johnson - Hellbender, a salamander with self-esteem issues. 

Shane Pennington

Shane Pennington - Pushing the binderies between art , technology and nature with his living bonsai tree with spliced in resin print.

Aurora Dallas 2013 or Aurora Project or Aurora 2013 or Dallas Aurora

Whatever name you prefer to use, Aurora, The Light Of Convergence was a stellar art event with a turnout well above the expected 35,000 people.

Aurora is an art event held one night in the Dallas Arts District that features new media artwork in mediums such as light, digital projection, performance and sound. This year all the Arts District Institutions joined in to make it a 68 acre block party.

This was my second time to be an Aurora artist. I selected a 10 foot square cement plinth to project my project onto, which was titled UP.

UP is composed of 63 photographs taken while hiking the back woods of Yosemite National Park. UP is a simple concept: we spend too much time looking at our hands and feet, and not enough time looking UP. By mirroring the images of treetops and projecting them onto a horizontal surface, this simple shift and change of angle illustrates the otherworld quality of simply looking UP.

Keeping this project very simple is something I learned from my last Aurora encounter. People in crowds never stop for very long, perhaps 3 seconds. In that short amount of time you have to grab them with something that is striking AND recognizable. 

Swirling colors and complex geometric shapes or long slow narratives just get passed by.

With UP, the simplicity is its strength. A photo that is mirrored creates a rorschach test experience. It is what it is but it could be something else as well. The added effect of one image fading into the next so that there is a brief 4 seconds of overlapping taps into the basic human instinct to search out recognizable patterns and solve puzzles. 

The end result is that the crowd stopped. Some people watched the whole 3 minute loop, pointing out to each other what they saw hidden in the trees. 

Here are a few links to Aurora reviews and posts:

UP

Aurora Dallas

Dallas Morning News

Bill McCarthy video
WFAA photos 49 and 50 are my favorites.
FrontRow D Magazine 

Opened For The White Rock Studio Tour

Well, I got so busy with the White Rock Lake Artists Studio Tour I didn't have time to post these photos of my clean and sorted studio.

The studio tour started out pretty slow on Saturday. The humidity was so high that people were covered in sweat and ended up going to only 2 or 3 studios before calling it a day. 

Sunday threatened rain but then turned into a very beautiful day, then people drove up, walked up, peddled up on their bikes. It was strange to be standing in my studio and to see it filled with people.

Happily artwork did find new homes, people signed up for BFS blog, and I reconnected with several art friends.

One unexpected benefit, I got in a lot of practice on my elevator speech. Short and to the point.

So, now I just need to trap a wealthy art patron in an elevator and I'll be set!

Cleaning The Studio For the Studio Tour

Cleaning is a lot like making art, there is always a point, despite all the hard work, when it just looks like crap. That's when you keep pushing, make some decisions, make some changes and then things fall together. Almost like you knew what the hell you were doing from the very beginning.

I am participating in the White Rock Lake Artists Studio Tour this year, that's why I'm cleaning up my studio. It has nothing to do with the fact that the studio has become a pigpen. There's something comfy about dust bunnies, old news papers and clusters of dirty coffee cups. It's like I never moved out of my collage dormitory. Well... now that I think about that dorm room, it was pretty disgusting and now my studio is a pigsty!

So this is my studio after a whole day of cleaning. It looks pretty bad. One thing that always throws me is that in order to clean my studio I also end up cleaning the shed, the kitchen, the office and the living room. It's not just a matter of putting away a few odd tools. There's also piles of books, at least one load of dirty dishes, shoes, furniture, nicknacks, and why the hell is this Christmas wrapping paper doing out?!

Once everything is cleaned and put away I'll start pulling out stacks of artwork and sorting through what I want to show during the tour.

The studio tour is Saturday and Sunday Oct 12th and 13th from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. There are 45 studios and 5 art centers on the free self guided tour. All are based around White Rock Lake. You could hit most of them in one day on your bicycle!

Here's a link to the MAP

Hope you can drop by, Brad

The Gate Way To The Studio

As the opening day for the White Rock Lake Artists Studio Tour gets closer I'm working on my To Do List. Today that list included cleaning up the yard. As you can see from the photo above we practice a more natural approach to the typical Dallas manicured lawn.

The house built by my parents in 1956 is snuggled under a canopy of pecan trees that keeps everything cool and shaded. The ground is basically overgrowth. We planted a few things like lantana, sage, cacti, and a fig tree. Most everything else was inherited or miraculously sprouted on its own. Not to brag but this summer I mowed twice.

Back to the tour. Thinking about crowd control and traffic patterns. How do we get people from the curb to the studio. Each studio on the tour will have a small yellow sign that says Studio Tour. It's been suggested to hang balloons from it just to make it more visible.

Using a yellow ribbon to act as a guide, we laid out a path that takes everyone from the curb, down the driveway, around the side of the house to the back yard. From there they just follow the sidewalk to the patio, through the beveled glass french doors into the studio.

The studio tour is Saturday and Sunday Oct 12th and 13th from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. There are 45 studios and 5 art centers on the free self guided tour. All are based around White Rock Lake. You could hit most of them in one day on your bicycle!

Here's a link to the MAP

Hope you can drop by, Brad

White Rock Lake Artists Studio Tour 2013

In 1992 three artists decided to organize a self guided studio tour of artists living in East Dallas. It went off so well they did it agin the next year. 21 years later the White Rock Lake Artists's Studio Tour is a 2 day event that showcases 40 artist's studios and 5 art centers. It covers over 30 art disciplines from kiln formed glass to custom furniture. From incised pottery to photography, and lets not forget painting, printmaking and sculpture.

I live almost in the heart of the WRLAST, and have enjoyed making friends with the artists in my neighborhood. By seeing how they set up their studios I learned a lot about space management and found new sources for supplies. Plus there is something special about seeing artwork and artists in their natural and very personal environments.

A few years back, after much prodding by artists friends I contacted WRLAST about joining the tour. After three years on the waiting list I am finally on the tour!!!

So here's some details:

Tour dates; Oct 12th and 13th

10:00am- 5:00pm
This event is free and open to the public
Studios are located in East Dallas around the White Rock Lake

Here are some links you'll need:
WhiteRock Lake Artist's Studio Tour website
Tour map with PDF download

Tour Map for your iPhone icihere.com

Maps are also available at all the studios on the tour.

It's going to be a great weekend. Drop by and say Hi. Stroll the neighborhood and see some art.