Funeral Party 2013

Funeral Party is interactive performance project comprised of the exploration of healing and death rituals to encourage participants towards realizations of the brevity of life and to aid in connecting to the present.

Funeral Party will take place on New Year's Day, Tuesday, January 1, 2013 at 14 Pews. There will be a eulogy writing service at 6pm with the Funeral Party to begin at 7pm. Those needing help with or wanting to explore their eulogies with others prior to the public presentation, please arrive at 6pm. Admission is a $5-$10 offering to offset funeral expenses.

“The last funeral was so enriching and powerful, it really blew me away,” states organizer/curator Emily Sloan. “For at least a year after the first funeral party, people I met for the first time at the event were contacting me and sharing how it affected them. I am appreciative to be invited by 14 Pews to make this journey again.”

The event will include visitation and drinking, eulogy writing assistance, a funeral service open to the public to speak, sing, share, etc., a funeral sound procession created by the audience along with whatever instruments they'd like to bring, and a funeral pyre for burning symbolic items contributed by the public.

Funeral attire is encouraged.Observers are welcome.

A potluck will follow the event.

ABOUT EMILY SLOAN:
Internationally unknown artist Emily Sloan was born outside of Diboll, Texas to John Bartholomew Sloan and Nancy de Norma H. Sloan. She presently survives and practices art in Houston, Texas. She is the founding reverend of the controversial Southern Naptist Convention (not to be confused with the activities to take place at the Funeral Party), chief curator of The Kenmore exhibition object and organizes Hair Washes for fundraising. One of her greatest accomplishments has been learning to dance despite an upbringing in which it was against her family’s religion. For more information, please visit: www.emilysloanblog.blogspot.com

ABOUT 14 PEWS:
Located at 800 Aurora St., Houston, Texas 77009, this Houston landmark is the oldest white wooden church in the Heights. Built in 1924, it has housed the Sunset Heights Church of Christ, Aurora Picture Show, and is now home to 14 Pews. 14 Pews is a non-profit microcinema providing regular screenings of independent documentaries and feature films, along with 4 annual film festivals and several affordable film/video educational classes. For more information, please visit: www.14pews.org

GENERAL INFORMATION:
Location:
14 Pews
800 Aurora St.
Houston, TX 77009

Contact/Questions:
Emily Sloan
emily@emilysloan.com
713-582-1198

City Pimping: Council Meeting, participatory theater (Houston, TX)

This is a little pre-show pimping which was scheduled to go out earlier this week. It was halted due to Superstorm Sandy. I'm happy to report our friends are fine and recovering. I'm sharing it as there is still one more night to see it here in Houston.

City Council Meeting is a participatory theater event taking place at three different venues in Houston, Texas from November 1-3, 2013. The November 1 event will take place at Palm Center, 2^nd floor courtroom, 5300 Griggs Road at 7:30pm. The November 2 event will take place at Project Row Houses’ Eldorado Ballroom, 2310 Elgin St. at 7:30pm. The November 3 event will take place at DiverseWorks, 4102 Fannin St. at 7:30pm. Admission to all events is free. 

The performance is co-presented by the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts where the event was developed during the 2012 research residency of Aaron Landsman and DiverseWorks. City Council Meeting will combine local participants which have selected various roles with transcripts from several cities’ government meetings along with original writings. It even touts a surprise ending.  

According to the press from the event: City Council Meeting was initially commissioned and developed through a residency at HERE Art Center in New York, through the HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP). City Council Meeting was made possible with funding by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Theater Pilot, with lead funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The project also received support from The MAP Fund, a program of Creative Capital supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. City Council Meeting is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation Fund Project co-commissioned by DiverseWorks Art Space, in partnership with HERE, Zspace and NPN. The Creation Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). The project also received support from the Puffin Foundation, Jerome Foundation and many individual donors. For more information on City Council Meeting, please visit: citycouncilmeeting.org

Keren Cytter's "Show Real Drama" at DiverseWorks...

This is a short write-up I wrote last month to share about Keren Cytter's vidoe/performance at DiverseWorks. It was not published elsewhere due to a duplicate performance in NYC, so here it is for our local audience. 

 Keren Cytter’s Show Real Drama was performed at DiverseWorks Art Space October 10 through October 13, 2012. This performance is in conjunction with Cytter’s exhibition Video Art Manual about the history and development of video art, on view in DiverseWorks’ galleries.

For Show Real Drama, the actors are in the role of actors who are creating their own scenes following failed attempts at finding work as actors. Each scene is introduced with a projection of the words Show, then Real, then Drama.

For this multimedia performance, the actors and the audience are present in the now, with the performers acting out the drama of their relationship while at times even describing audience members. A video projection of their previous interactions and “drama” adds a time-based element and reveals more of their “real” drama. 

The combination of live performance and the time element of the video, along with acting about acting, make for an experience of decided awareness of someone as they experience an awareness of and interaction with themselves. As in her exhibition on view where video art is examined through watching video footage, we are examining drama through watching real drama. 

Show Real Drama, written and directed by Keren Cytter, came to DiverseWorks Art Space following presentations at The Kitchen, Kunsthall Bergen, and the Tate Modern among other venues. It is the last performance at DiverseWorks’ current location. For more information about exhibitions and their new location, please visit: www.diverseworks.org

Enlight...Residency Exhibition @ Darke Gallery, Friday, August 31, from 6-9pm

DARKE | gallery is pleased to present Enlight, Emily Sloan's solo exhibition.  The opening reception is Labor Day weekend, Friday, August 31, 6-9 PM.  The exhibition continues through Saturday, September 29, 2012.

Emily Sloan is DARKE gallery’s artist in residence for 2012.  Sloan will be using the gallery as a studio, along with a small stipend, to create an exhibition that will open on August 31.  The four Saturdays in August are open studio days, when the public can stop in and see the work in progress.  These open houses may include a simple time to visit, a performance exercise or something inspired by mandalas.

Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning "circle." In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions, art often takes a mandala form. These mandalas, concentric diagrams, are often used as a spiritual teaching tools and as aids to meditation and trance induction in meditation practices.

The psychoanalyst Carl Jung saw the mandala as "a representation of the unconscious self”, and believed his paintings of mandalas enabled him to identify emotional disorders and work towards wholeness in personality.

In common use, mandala has become a generic term for any plan, chart or geometric pattern that represents the cosmos.

The exhibtion will include a series of mandala-inspired shade sculptures and a video Sloan has created with Jonathan Jindra.

Referencing the mandalas, shade and light, the show title will be: "Enlight"

Emily Sloan has an MFA in sculpture and interdisciplinary studies from the University of Houston and an MA from Stephen F. Austin State University. She has participated in many artist residencies, exhibitions, and the New York Studio School's Drawing Marathon in 2004. Sloan's work incorporates drawing, sculpture and painting. Many of her pieces use humor to engage the viewer in a dialogue about the environment and preoccupations with the social. To view more of her artwork visit: www.emilysloanblog.blogspot.com.

Current projects include the Southern Naptist Convention 2012 at Venice Beach, CA; and The Kenmore exhibition object at Skydive Art Space.

Now in its sixth year, DARKE | gallery exhibits contemporary art of the finest quality, with a focus on emerging and established artists with Texas ties.  Located at 320 B Detering @ Feagan, the gallery is open noon to 5:00 PM, Wednesday through Saturday, and by appointment.   For more information call 713-542-3802 or visit www.darkegallery.com.

The Kenmore's Artisit-in-Residence, Sasha Dela

Sasha Dela debuts new work as the Artist-in-Residence of The Kenmore, on view at Darke Gallery, August 31- September 29, 2012.

There will be a reception on Friday, August 31 from 6-9pm. Also, on view: Enlight by Emily Sloan.

Sasha Dela will be debuting a new video for her residency at The Kenmore which is sub-residing at Darke Gallery with its owner Emily Sloan while Sloan has a summer residency at Darke Gallery. For The Kenmore’s sub-residency, Sloan has provided Dela studio space, a portion of her resi

dency’s stipend, and a show to open August 31 along with her residency.

About Sasha Dela:
Dela completed a residency at the Museum of Fine Arts’ Core Program in 2007. She received her Master of Fine Art in San Francisco at California College of the Arts in 2005, and her Bachelor of Fine Art at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2000, and was awarded the DeCosse Fellowship, to study at the Accademia Di Belle Arte, Florence, Italy in 2000. Dela is Houston Regional Editor for the Temporary Art Review, St Louis. Sasha Dela is the co-founder and co-director of SKYDIVE, an art space hosting a range of art practices that push the limits of their material forms.

About The Kenmore:
Not just another white cube, The Kenmore is a small, cold artist-run gallery space measuring approximately 36" x 24"x 24". It's mission is to keep ideas fresh through the opportunity of a unique exhibition context. The Kenmore participated in FotoFest 2010, FotoFest 2012 and Lawndale Art Center’s “The BIG Show” (2010) with its debut of “The small Show.”

Location of show:
Darke Gallery
320B Detering (at Feagan)
Houston, TX 77007

Contact:
Emily Sloan
713-582-1198
thekenmore@gmail.com

Recreational Aesthetics @ Darke Gallery

For the month of August, I have DARKE gallery for a studio as their artist in residence for 2012.  During this time, I will be working on "Enlight" an exhibition to open Friday, August, 30 from 6-9pm. 

Additionally, Saturdays in August from 2:00 to 4:00 PM are open residency days for "Recreational Aesthetics".  This is a time the gallery is open to the public both to see what's going on and to be distracted from such.  Refreshments and parking provided.
 
August 4: Please Don't Tell My Parents
August 11: "Water, Water Fresh and Clear" hosted by special guest Carrie A. Nation
August 18: How Galleries Remind Me of Churches 
August 25: Is that a Baby Ruth in the Swimming Pool?!
 

Location:
Darke Gallery
320 B Detering @ Feagan
Houston, TX 77007
713-542-3802
www.darkegallery.com

and The Kenmore's Artist-in-Residence is...

Sasha Dela!

Look for her work on Friday, August 31 from 6-9pm at The Kenmore within Darke Gallery.

Location:
The Kenmore
c/o Darke Gallery
320 B Detering at Feagan
Houston, TX 77007

2012 Southern Naptist Convention to be held in Southern California

The 2012 Southern Naptist Convention will be held the morning of Sunday, June 17 in Southern California at the Venice Boardwalk in Venice, CA.

“Southern California’s and specifically Venice’s abundance of muscle, sand, and proximity to water make it a perfect site for sharing healthful and relaxing blessed rest and immersion if needed,” according to Reverend Emily. “In keeping with our belief: Let s/he who has never fallen asleep in a church cast the first pillow, the convention, as always, is open to all faiths,” added the Reverend.

About the Southern Naptist Convention:

Napping Affects Performance (NAP) and the Southern Naptist Convention are interactive performance projects by Emily Sloan providing community naps in collaboration with various performances, including (but not limited to) collaborations with sound, word, touch, and the delivery of naps to various sites and/or contexts. In May and June of 2010, NAP operated out of Art League Houston with six weeks of continuous performances taking place during Art League’s regular hours of operation. Since then, followers and napophiles began meeting once a month for a Sunday naps and naptisms during NAP Church services. For more information, please visit:  www.nappingaffectsperformance.blogspot.com

About Emily Sloan:
Internationally unknown artist and post-Campbellite Emily Sloan is the founding reverend of the controversial Southern Naptist Convention and chief caretaker and curator of The Kenmore exhibition object. Sloan is based out of Houston, Texas where her practice includes education, performance, public art projects and object making.

For more information, please visit: www.emilysloanblog.blogspot.com

Image:  Restful Leg Blessing, 2010

Karen Brasier Young at The Kenmore

Artist Karen Brasier Young will unveil a new site-specific work of sculptural intervention at The Kenmore, located at Skydive Art Space, with water water everywhere. This one night only event will take place on May 17, 2012 from 7:00pm to 10:00p.m.

Featuring manipulated blue water balloons, some chilled by The Kenmore and some warmed by the sun, water water everywhere is primarily interested in abstract composition, with a hint to material qualities of water, its mechanisms and transformations, and the pure, dripping potential of the material.

When asked about her motives, Brasier Young states, I’m a “disillusioned ex-competitive swimmer and peaceful Galveston Island native, with a personal relationship with water that is conflicted and sometimes leads to ruminating.” While maintaining an allusion to those murkier undercurrents, Karen seeks to redeem the celebratory aspects of water in her mind through an intervention that taps into the youthful nostalgia of water balloon fights and running through sprinklers on a drought-stricken Texas summer day.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Karen Brasier-Young is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in Houston, TX. She holds a masters degree in architecture from the University of Cincinnati and has also pursued graduate studies in sculpture at the San Francisco Art Institute. Fueled by an interest in the built environment, Karen’s work indirectly explores issues of space, place, social interaction, and assemblage from a perspective of abstract sculptural practice. Karen is a resident artist at Box 13 ArtSpace, teaches art as an adjunct at Houston Community College, and works as an architectural and interior designer.

ABOUT THE KENMORE
Not just another white cube, The Kenmore is a small, cold exhibition object measuring approximately 36" x 24"x 24". The Kenmore's mission is to keep ideas fresh through the opportunity of a unique exhibition context and the experience of collaborating with an object.

ABOUT SKYDIVE ART SPACE
SKYDIVE is an artist run exhibition venue unique to Houston. The aim of SKYDIVE is to host a range of art practices that push the limits of their material forms, including non-traditional methods of sculpture, installation, video, performance, and works that engage the viewer through participation, as well as text and web-based projects.

GENERAL INFORMATION
One night only: Thursday, May 17, 7-10pm

CONTACT:
Emily Sloan
The Kenmore
c/o SKYDIVE Art Space
2041 Norfolk St.
77098
713-582-1198
thekenmore@gmail.com
www.the-kenmore.blogspot.com

The Kenmore proudly presents: David McClain, 2012 FotoFest Bienniel

David McClain, a Houston-based photographer and interdisciplinary artist, debuts new work at The Kenmore at SKYDIVE Art Space on Saturday, March 24. McClain's installation transforms the inside of the refrigerator into a peepshow using "authentic" vintage porn of famous people including Sylvester Stallone, alleged vintage porn of famous people including Marilyn Monroe and recreated porn based on real porn including famous people such as Erin Andrews, the ESPN sportscaster who was surreptitiously filmed in the nude in her hotel room. Questions raised include our voyeuristic urges, our addiction to celebrity culture, and what it means to be authentic in a digital age.

When asked about borrowing vintage porn for his work, McClain borrows Jim Jarmusch’s words: “Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic.” Furthermore, states McClain, “Maybe I was an adult film star in Bulgaria before migrating to the United States…”




ABOUT THE ARTIST:
David McClain holds a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a JD from the University of Houston Law Center, and a BA from Rice University. His work has been exhibited in Mission, Texas, Chicago, Illinois, and Houston and published in TimeOut New York, Fifth Wednesday Journal and PhotoNews Magazine (Germany). He is a resident artist at Box 13 ArtSpace. McClain incorporates photography, painting, sculpture, parade floats, and performance in his work. For more information, please visit:

ABOUT THE KENMORE:
Not just another white cube, The Kenmore is a small, cold artist-run exhibition object measuring approximately 36" x 24"x 24". It is mobile and presently located at SKYDIVE Art Space in Houston, Texas. The Kenmore's mission is to keep ideas fresh through the opportunity of a unique exhibition context.

GENERAL INFORMATION:
Opening reception: Saturday, March 24, 7-10pm
On view through April 28, Saturdays from 1-5pm or by appointment.

CONTACT:
Emily Sloan
The Kenmore
c/o SKYDIVE Art Space
2041 Norfolk St. 77098
713-582-1198

Exhibition image: Screen capture from "Erin Andrews Recreation," video by Breton Peterson (2010).

Lone Star Peformance Explosion, Houston International Performance Art Biennale 2012

“Lone Star Performance Explosion”is a new and exciting 3 day live art festival which will take place in the city of Houston, Texas, March 8-10 2012.

This event will happen in three different locations in the city over Spring break 2012. For interviews with some of the artists visit: http://performancearthouston.blogspot.com/2012/03/lone-star-performance-explosion-first.html

The festival organization is dedicated to the dissemination of a wide range of contemporary live art practices (solo, durational, group) with a particular focus on social and political engagement, interaction with the public and provocative experimentation.

Event dates and locations:
● Symposium at CAMH. Wednesday March 7, 2-4pm. Cullen Educational Resource Center, Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston 5216 Montrose Blvd. 77006. www.camh.org
● Performances at DiverseWorks. Thursday, March 8, 7-11pm. 1117 E. Freeway 77022. www.diverseworks.org
● Performances at AvantGarden. Friday, March 9, 7-11pm. 411 Westheimer, 77006. www.avantgardenhouston.com
● Artist Reception at AvantGarden. Friday, March 9, 11pm-2am. 411 Westheimer, 77006. www.avantgardenhouston.com
● Performances at notsuoH. Saturday, March 10, 7-11pm. 314 Main (Downtown) 77002.www.notsuoh.com

Tickets are $30 to attend all events, or $12 per performance event.

To purchase tickets and for more information visit lonestarexplosion.org

FotoFest 2012 Biennial: David McClain's "Refrigerator Art"

For FotoFest 2012 Biennial, The Kenmore will host "Refrigerator Art" by David McClain.

One night only:
Saturday, March 24, 7-10pm.

Location:
SKYDIVE ARTSPACE
2041 Norfolk
Houston, TX 77098


Contact:
Emily Sloan, caretaker of The Kenmore
713-582-1198
thekenmore@gmail.com

Prologue 2012

On view Saturdays through Feb. 25

Location:
SKYDIVE ARTSPACE
2041 Norfolk
Houston, TX 77098

Many Mini Residency at Koh-i-noor in Copenhagen

In an effort to not spoil my "internationally unknown" artist status with a Many Mini Residency at Koh-i-noor in Copenhagen, I spent my residency time in the very local setting of my bathtub.

Sinking down in the bathtub until my ears are submerged and listening to the filtered and strangely distant sounds in and around my thin-walled house are a regular practice for me. During my Many Mini residency, I listened to downloaded traffic sounds from Copenhagen through the water of my bathtub in Houston, Texas. This was a very conscious yet meditative experience which allowed my mind to wonder and dream of being in Copenhagen. At times, I felt the sounds of Copenhagen were on the other side of the wall as they were brought into a close parallel with the sounds occurring around me my Houston dwelling and neighborhood.



About the Many Mini:
Many Mini Residency is a short-term residency program operated in conjunction with alternative exhibition venues in Europe and the United States. The name ‘Many Mini’ encompasses two main components of the project which is hosted in one room 24 hours a day for one week. The ‘Many’ describes the open call for proposals and the resulting multiplicity of responses and participants. The ‘Mini’ component of the residency describes the limited amount of time available and the scale of the room.

Many Mini Residency is open to applicants from all disciplines (art and non-art alike) and encourages participants to customize their residency experience. There is no minimum time-limit for a stay at the residency but the maximum stay allows use of the space for half a day. The space may be used for public programs, personal studio time, a rehearsal space, a dinner, or whatever the resident sees fit. Participants provide documentation and a short statement about their time spent in the residency to serve as both a record and a resource displayed online as the final component of the project.

In January 2012, Many Mini Residency will be hosted at Koh-i-noor, an artist-run independent project space in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 2004, the focus of Koh-i-noor is to create a space for experimentation and to have an influence on the discourse of contemporary art. Koh-i-noor aims to provide and uphold a collaborative, process-related and interdisciplinary, informal platform for open thought, information exchange and spatial experiments. Although operating within an international network, Koh-i-noor’s activities are also informed by and related to its local context and situation. Koh-i-noor seeks to ensure a critical distance and take position towards contemporary cultural and social conditions.

Many Mini Residency: Copenhagen at Koh-i-noor will additionally exist in conversation with other Many Mini Residencies; the first hosted by The Berlin Office in Berlin, July 2008 and the second hosted by Skydive in Houston, TX, July 2011. Many Mini Residency not only provides an opportunity for interaction among participants within each locale, but creates a comparable portrait of each city where the residency is held.

About Emily Sloan:
Internationally unknown multidisciplinary artist Emily Sloan is the founding reverend of the Southern Naptist Convention and chief caretaker and curator of The Kenmore exhibition object. Sloan is based out of Houston, Texas, and is hoping the Many Mini Residency has not spoiled her "internationally unknown" artist status. To learn more about her practice, please visit: www.emilysloanblog.blogspot.com

Craftism Revisited

Artist Cat Coombes and co-conspirator Edward Lane McCartney, with "The Kenmore", have reprised their "Craftism"show and its accompanying manifesto to arouse renewed deliberation on the delineation between "Art" and "Craft". McCartney has created a small grouping of new jewelry inspired by his recent trip to France, the Var Department, and its chain of small 13th century mountain top villages.

"The Kenmore" is a small, cold, self-run exhibition object. Though it is mobile, it is usually located at Box 13 ArtSpace in Houston, TX. The Kenmore's mission is to keep ideas fresh through the opportunity of a unique exhibition context and the experience of collaboration. The Kenmore gallery object is the creation of artist, curator, and educator Emily Sloan and has been generously loaned by her for this exhibition.

Location until March 10:
Goldesberry Gallery
2625 Colquit Street
Houston, Texas 77098