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Jessica Cannon writes in February 25, 2006

Jessica Cannon, another artist who will be participating in the inaugural Normal Space exhibition, wrote to Flux Factory today, as she later expressed “half excited half confused”. Now I find this whole curve pretty interesting, so here’s the story:

This past November (me thinks) I went to the Parsons MFA Open Studios in support of my friend Ashley Kesling whom I met while working on the Novel project at Flux Factory. While there I did a round of most of the studios, obviously. Later in the eve, after enjoying a few Newcastle Browns which were gallantly being offered from an empty, abandoned studio, Ashley asked if there was any work I was particularly fond of. While I couldn’t remember her name then, I said yes and I could take Ashley to the studio, perhaps she could tell me more about the person.

After a drunken tour we stumbled into Jessica’s studio and Ashley burst into a laugh – I knew I had made a good choice!

cannon_dreamcatcherI already liked Jessica’s work, especially her drawings, of which I remember things such as skyscrapers and an iceberg adorned with scenes of play. Ashley explained they are public work proposals, and they exist in several places: in drawings, photomontages, and actual works (the type of work my old friend Elaine Arkell from London would really love!). Then I appreciated the works even more! I really wanted to meet Jessica, and Ashley assured me we would someday.cannon_winterwaterland

Then, just a few weeks later, there was the 2005 Night of 1,000 Drawings at Artists Space. A deluge of drawings and other works on paper hung from wire with bulldog clips, I spotted three pieces that I was considering buying. I paced back and forth between the three pieces, contemplating which one to buy (even though they were each only $50, I could only afford one). I wasn’t really interested in who the artist was, because I wanted to focus more on the drawing and its inclusion into my collection. But then I broke down and inspected the rear of each work to see who the artist was, and wouldn’t you know one of them was by Jessica Cannon!

!SNAP!

I bought it. Well chuffed with that purchase! What a great piece. A drawing of a slab of sidewalk concrete that has grass growing out of it, which Jessica has also made into an installation.

So several months go by, I start planning out Normal Space, and include Jessica’s name onto my original flyer-image posted on the Flux Factory website to start spreading the word about the exhibition. Anyhow somehow Jessica caught wind of her inclusion in the show, wrote to Flux, Flux forwarded her email to me, I replied, and she says:

…now I’m just excited. I think its really interesting to reactivate a space by installing different artists’ work in it… especially since its a studio and there already exists so much potential there

Jessica really understands the impulse behind this show, and I can’t wait to meet her!

visit Jessica’s website

George Romanation visits February 20, 2006

George is a photographer and a great guy! I met him today finally. We’ve been exchanging emails (and playing phone tag) now for around maybe 6 weeks, on and off (busy schedules for the both of us), and he swung by Flux Factory today for us to meet, talk, and for me to purchase a piece of his which I’m also looking to include in the inaugural Normal Space exhibition.

George lives nearby in Woodside, so it was just a short skip for him from home to Flux. He mentioned he works in the travel industry which allows him the opportunities sometimes to go to places he wouldn’t be able to get to otherwise (he does live in QUEENS after all!) and to take photos on his journeys.

The piece I bought from George is a black and white RC print, 5×7 inches, and is an inscription from a wall in Russia (Moscow, Petrograd? can you remind me George!) which has an excerpt from the defunct Soviet Constitution which translates to “All Power in the USSR belongs to the People” – of course the original text is in cyrillic.

This photo is only the second wet-based photograph in my collection, and will be an excellent piece to exhibit at Normal Space. The exact piece I bought can be found on George’s new website. Click through his links to explore more of his work.

inaugural exhibition February 13, 2006

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This page, indeed this site and this project, no doubt every aspect of this Space will be developed over the course of the next weeks in preparation for the inaugural exhibition at Normal Space, featuring artworks from my own personal collection.

The first exhibition will feature approximately 26 artworks by 23 artists (perhaps more, the collection is always open to additions) including:
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The first opening will be two months from the date of this post, on 13 April 2006, the second Thursday of the month, to coincide with the Flux Thursday dinner and salon event at Flux Factory.