Collaborators

The Common Box Project

Alicia is an incredible artist, gallery owner (Abecedarian Gallery in Denver, CO at 910 Santa Fe), fellow scheme hatcher and friend. She pulled together the most amazing collection of assemblage art The Common Box Project. Check it out at www.commonboxproject.blogspot.com. One more thing, you should talk to her sometime about what a "book" is. It'll expand your brain.

The Common Box Project

Take 65 artists from across the country, 65 simple wooden boxes, and the nuts and bolts of a new record by an indie songwriter and then mix it all together in a beautiful collaboration called the Common Box Project. Here's the basic idea:

1. John Common and Blinding Flashes of Light have a new record.
2. Alicia Bailey is an artist and gallery owner (Abecedarian Gallery) whose recent assemblage box art inspired them both with an idea...
3. A mixed media collaboration with artists of all types to create 65 unique pieces of assemblage box art that are inspired and/or informed by the new record.
4. A call is going out to artists from across the region (and country) to see who is interested in joining in this collaborative box art project.
5. 65 boxes have been crafted by artist/woodworker Nicolas Willert. Each box has been designed to hold a copy of the new CD (a secret place in the back of the box). 6. Each artist who is chosen to participate in the Common Box Project will be shipped a raw box and an artist kit containing materials related to the new John Common & Blinding Flashes of Light record intended to inspire/inform the artwork (audio, lyrics, images, stories, etc).
7. Each artist will then ship their completed assemblage box art piece to Abecedarian Gallery by late June. Each box will also hold a copy of the new record.
8. The Common Box Project listening party for the new record will be held Saturday, July 18, 7-10pm. Artists, fans, friends and press will all be invited.
9. Proceeds of each piece are split evenly between the gallery, the artist and the band.
10. Cool, huh???

COMMON BOX PROJECT

Melissa Rick
Sough, in the Wood - This box has been sold

Sough, in the Wood, was inspired from the music as I heard it and from the idea of this collaborative project. I filled my empty box with materials from both these influences and began the process of elimination, which is often the way my work evolves. The elements and ideas are restricted and reduced to follow just a single thread, in order to simplify, make bare, single. As the box progressed it was clear I had settled into one song, In the Wood, and would finish there. It’s always a mix of what is coming in and what is already there.

COMMON BOX PROJECT

Gabrilla Trujillo - Just a Picture of Elvis and the Holy Bible
Because John Common’s music focuses on human emotion, I wanted to do a box that described a strong emotion. I found that loneliness was a common theme in many of his songs, and wanted to show loneliness manifested in a shadow box. Dilapidated trailer parks and mobile homes scream loneliness, so a cut away model of a mobile home was created.

COMMON BOX PROJECT

Annalee Schorr explores the ubiquitous and looks at the quirks in our visual world via photography, painting, and installation. The use of grids and patterning is a constant in Schorr’s varied works. She is interested in social aspects of our culture, and she pursues the realities that lie beneath the surfaces we present to the world.

COMMON BOX PROJECT

COMMON BOX PROJECT

i paint because it is another language for me:
to say what i am unable to verbalize
in my daily conversations.

i write because it helps me listen
closer to what i am seeing.

most days I still believe art can be a catalyst:
for beauty, for peace, for being still.

so i keep painting
to remind myself
to slow down
and let the days resurface.

COMMON BOX PROJECT

1) Hang the box on the wall.  There will have to be a good 3 feet between it and other boxes due to the long spring which is to be placed up top of the steeple behind the top clock face. The white feathers are to be placed in the ends of the spring as if flying
2) Unpack loose sand and sprinkle into the base of the box corners
3) Place loose shells into communion cup, create a good base for the battery powered light to shine upward.  It should be recessed so one could not see it thru the sliding lid(Yellow door with glass handle). This is key so that the light can shine upwards to illuminate the tattered translucent shell glued to the top.
4) Slide the door on from the top.  There is a bit of a catch, so you have to wiggle it a bit.
5) Snag the dog chain and connect it to GI Joe's hands as if they were gymnastic rings. Now hang the chain over the door knob.  Joe should be in crucifix position.  This is a little tricky, but can be accomplished to make it secure.  The black feathers are to be fed thru the Chain hoops and into pre-drilled holes on the anterior neck of Joe. Position the feathers as if in flight up and outta Hell!
6) Position the wooden plumbers ruler as the close up picture I provided shows.  The metal portion on the right hand side should extend down to be even with Joe's toe tips which should be pointing.  Here is the crucial  measurement of Joe to see if he is worthy of being in Heaven.
7) Time to place the long spring up on top, perfectly balanced by spinning the spring left or right, as needed.( reposition white feathers as needed to get them horizontal, as if wind was beneath them.  The long spring represents Joe's guardian angel.
8) I'd like to have a bit of sand placed on the floor, directly under the box.  This will happen naturally if you pack in the sand provided into the box to make a nice base for the cup to rest horizontally.

COMMON BOX PROJECT

COMMON BOX PROJECT

I am a collector. I collect things. Old things, found things, used things, odd things, creepy things, and unloved things. I collect pictures and ideas some which appeal to

my darker cynical side, and  use all of these collections in my work. When juxtaposing unlike objects and ideas along side like objects and ideas, I try to introduce them in such a way that they look like they may have been old friends for a long time.

I like to indulge my slightly darker side by creating creatures that could be or might have been, working towards an end which juxtaposes an idea against an image. Call it tinkering in the twilight zone.

COMMON BOX PROJECT

I strive to capture the intimate and internal experience in my artwork. My figures each stand alone, even when part of a group. Each character emerges from the clay directly from my subconscious-- characters of imagination, past experiences, family stories, motherhood, fairy tales, and dreams. They are soulful beings, reflective of deep inner experiences: joy, sadness, pride, or embarrassment. Whatever the feeling, it is part of the experience of being human.

COMMON BOX PROJECT

Woodworking seems to run in his blood. He is self taught, but was lucky to be able to observe his grandfather and father work in the family shop. His grandfather worked on household projects and his father was a talented furniture maker. Randy has come a long way since those days as a young boy watching his father and grandfather.

Like any artist, Randy looks to things around him for inspiration. Inspiration strikes when he is looking into family history, hiking, or riding his bike. As he slowly pedals down the road on his bicycle he has time to think about preliminary designs and work out any technical details of current projects. Fresh air and beautiful surroundings can go a long way for encouragement! I'm sure his bike rides are also a great time to think about his next choice in materials. He tries to use materials that are found locally, whether it be the wood he finds from his local sources, regionally tanned leather, or spalted wood found on one of his hikes.

COMMON BOX PROJECT

I am most concerned with capturing the essence of my very rich dream life. My paintings are primarily attempts to find order and understanding within the greater context of my waking life. I find the act of lucid dreaming to be a spiritual tool of immense power, and my art seeks to give voice to this action.

The painting technique I employ is a variation of the old master’s glazing technique; where many layers of glaze hold pigment (oil based in this case) between layers, creating a quality of light and depth that I find to be interesting.

COMMON BOX PROJECT

Dolph Smith has never lived more than an hour’s drive from where he was born in Memphis, Tennessee. His home/studio of thirty years in midtown and the Memphis College of Art where he taught for thirty years were only ten minutes from where he was born. Until he moved with wife Jessie to a new home/studio 50 miles away in the countryside, he had not come very far in life.

At Memphis College of Art he taught Painting, Drawing in early years, and, in the late 70s, developed a Hand Papermaking and Book Arts program called "The Flying Vat." Dolph retired in 1995 and was elected Professor Emeritus. In 2004 awarded Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, Memphis College of Art. Dolph's art works ranged over the years from watercolors and drawings into years of paperworks and sculpture and he's now involved with creating one of a kind handmade books. He has over 1,200 works in collections nationally including Japan and China and has been featured in Surface Design Journal, Hand Papermaking, The Complete Printmaker and was profiled with nine other American bookmakers in The Penland Book of Handmade Books.

Dolph travels nationally to teach including: Penland School, Arrowmont, Haystack, Oregon School of Arts and Craft, Appalachian Center, and Forum in Australia. Often a juror and lecturer, he is now working from a studio called Tennarkippi Field on Hurricane Hill in Western Tennessee.

Quote: If we knew what we were going to make, it just wouldn’t be a creative act, would it?

COMMON BOX PROJECT

"In Hiebert's hands, paper becomes an alternately muscular and fragile material capable of enigma, mystery and beauty. She crafts small-scale works that suggest the influence of architecture and the landscape: radial patterns, hexagonal shapes, various undulating forms that resemble the waves of sand found in the endless desert." -- DK Row, The Oregonian

http://helenhiebertstudio.blogspot.com/

COMMON BOX PROJECT

Like most artists, I have been making art since I was a child. Bless my parents for putting most of it on the refrigerator. At university, I took my first painting class. From the moment I laid oil paint into panel, I fell in love with the medium’s visual and material sensuality. Recently, I re-learned the childhood pleasure of artistic play and began drawing again, then making collages, then tiptoeing into prints, artist books. . .I cannot stop. Too, I’ve discovered the joys of collaborating, of blending and communicating and creating with a partner. I cannot stop that, either; it’s a thread that weaves too well into my solitary work.

COMMON BOX PROJECT

My work is dependent upon the viewer's physical interaction to complete it, by incorporating many of our senses rather than relying on only the visual level. I deconstruct old typewriters, mechanical objects and musical instruments - then cannibalize the parts to build working instruments that entice the viewer to "play" with the work, creating a multi-dimensional experience. Found objects become hand crafted tools and devices to allow the viewer to create a narrative from visual sources such as photos, audio recordings, levers and keys that were designed to make sounds when manipulated. Movements, actions or sounds are often included within the scenario of one piece. I commonly use familiar objects such as piano keys to invite interaction. The look and feel of the piece is often reminiscent of the past and the act of physical manipulation further enhances memory. My ideas are about history, but also rooted firmly in the present, requiring one to go backwards in order to move forward. My work is designed so that the participation of the viewer is essential to the wholeness of the piece. Touch and time itself is an integral part of the experience causing small surface changes in the materials and personalizing the work by what is usually forbidden in the art world  - touch. I consider the piece unfinished until the viewer interacts with it.

COMMON BOX PROJECT

Maryann Riker was born and raised in western New Jersey in 1956. She studied art and received an undergraduate degree from Moravian College, and graduate degrees from Montclair State University and Vermont College.

She has exhibited her work in galleries throughout the United States including New York and Philadelphia and her work is included in museum, corporate, and private collections including AT&T and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Her work has been juried and curated into shows by art world notables Ivan Karp, Bernice Steinbaum, Miriam Shapiro, and Sidney Goodman.

Her most recent work is inspired by her explorations into her past reflecting her upbringing in post-war America and American suburbia.

COMMON BOX PROJECT

When I create a new work, I begin spontaneously, and progress intuitively, becoming more detailed as a composition takes form.  My art explores the balance between many ideas:  tension and harmony, spontaneity and control, empty space and active space, depth and surface.  I believe that complex emotions can often speak through simple forms.   Every new, personal, life change has added new dimensions of expression to the way I create.  With each work, I enjoy a kind of conversation.   A particular work is complete when it no longer demands anything from me... but the conversation doesn't stop there... enjoy!

Common Box Project

While reading John Common’s lyrics and listening to his music, I found myself wanting to know more about the people in his neighborhood. Where did they come from? Where were they going? With those questions in mind,

I selected excerpts from his lyrics that made me want to know more, lyrics that made me want to find out whose experience was intertwined in his melody. The excerpts were then imbedded in images. Each image is one quadrant of a larger photograph, creating a slide of text and image that doubles as a puzzle piece. Each of the photographs that I chose were images that I had taken of locations that roused a strong sense of place.

After creating the lyric slides, I decided that I wanted to answer some of these questions for the viewer of the collaborative box project. I thought about the relationships formed by this project - there is John Common, the musician, Alicia Bailey, the curator-gallerist, me, the creator of the box and you, the viewer of the box. I thought about how this project connected us and how we each have a story to tell. I asked John and Alicia to share four specific thoughts, facts or memories from different points in their lives while I also came up with four from my life. These story pieces were imbedded in one quadrant of a map. When put together, these slides reveal the home state of each contributor.

Common Box Project

My box, 'The Common Canadian Dissected, Eh?' is a three-drawer creation based on mythology and misconceptions about people living in the Great North. Participating in an exhibition which is physically very far away led to the idea of an introductory kit of ‘everyday’ Canadian objects for others to view – an anthropological examination of tongue-in-cheek Canuck 'common' culture.