FamiLee Life

Hmong Hip Hop

Local St Paul rapper and community activist Tou Saiko Lee is featured in the New York Times Magazine today. Check it out here. Toward the end of the video is a segment in which Tou honors this family's heritage through a collaborative art piece with his grandmother. It's pretty sweet and worth checking out. Plus, it's fitting for Mother's Day today.

BTW, last week's article on urban/gang violence is another worthwhile NYTMag read, but more importantly to me is the photography by my friend Reuben Cox. I am excited to own a great photograph by Reuben.

Reuben Cox for the New York Times

Funny Thursday Treat

It's Politics, It's Art - Getting Out the Vote!

I did it. I went ahead and bought the Shepard Fairey print of Barack Obama, titled CHANGE. HW doesn't want me to get all messianic about supporting Barack and I concur. But I believe he's the right choice. Plus, supporting his campaign in this way provides the bonus of supporting my Art-A-Month habit. Why? Because Shepard Fairey is the artist who is most popularly known for his Obey Giant. Having grown up on Andre the Giant, I have a fondness for this art.

Taken from Wikipedia,

Fairey created the "André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign in 1989, while attending the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).[3] This later evolved into the "Obey Giant" campaign, which has grown via an international network of collaborators replicating Fairey's original designs.[4] In a manifesto he wrote in 1990, and since posted on his website, he links his work with Heidegger's concept of phenomenology.[5] His "Obey" Campaign draws from the John Carpenter movie "They Live" which starred pro wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper, taking a number of its slogans, including the "Obey" slogan, as well as the "This is Your God" slogan. [6]. Fairey has also spun off the OBEY clothing line from the original sticker campaign.[7] He also uses the slogan "The Medium is the Message" borrowed from Marshall McLuhan.

Reuben, Ry, and NYC

Sometimes I wish I lived in NYC. I hate the big city crowds, but I occasionally miss the Korean food, the Jewish delis, the open all-night atmosphere, and the art. Oh, the art. Minneapolis has great art too, as evinced in all my blog entries on the subject, but NYC has Reuben Cox. I blogged about my purchase of one of Reuben's photograph as part of the Art-A-Month effort. He now has a new show on "Portraits of Musicians" in NYC. If you live in or near the city, check out the show and let me know about it!

Back on the Saddle...Then Off, Then Back On

During a brief warm-up during the past week, I got it in the head to organize a bike-food ride for Saturday with the anticipation that it would continue to be mild winter-to-spring transition weather. Hm. The weather did not fully cooperate as the temps dipped a bit below freezing at night on Friday, resulting in slick black ice on the roadways in the morning. Still, a group of us (Hapa9, PhT, Vucci, BenB, and I) were undeterred despite a long night of karaoke singing for some at the 55408 art exhibit opening (but, alas, not me).

Of course, my planned trip was nearly completely scrapped for an alternative route thanks to meddling riding friends with ideas of their own, but it was still perfect. Given the late night festivities for the others, we decided to meet at PhT's for coffee and donuts. I rode out along Lake Harriet toward Uptown to buy donuts at Wuollet's. I was taking the turn off the bike path onto the parkway when I took a spill on the black ice in front of a parked police car (who was there to block off traffic for some marathon!). The officer got out of the car and asked if I was okay. I smiled and responded, "I thought you all were going to salt the road for me this morning?" To which he responded in good spirits, "We got out here too late to call in for some salt." With that, I got back on the saddle and made my way to Wuollet's.

With a dozen donuts in the front rack of the B'stone Amnesty, I sped off to PhT's where just Sarah and PhT were awaiting. Slowly, more folks trickled in (Ben, Hapa9, Kurt). Sarah left to go to work and so did Kurt. After gorging on donuts, the rest of us took a short ride over to the MIA to see Andrea Stanislav's exhibit. From there, we decided we needed more caffeine (well, Hapa9 did), so we rode along the greenway to Blue Moon Coffee Cafe on Lake St. After watching Hapa9 consume 24+ ounces of coffee in a mere 20 minutes, we headed back onto the greenway and then onto West River Road Parkway toward the university and northeast Mpls.

We stopped on the bike bridge which runs parallel to the 10th Ave bridge to survey the remains of the I-35 bridge and the new construction. Then, we cut through campus toward 4th St and eventually arrived at Brasa. We ordered lots of free-refill lemonade (homemade!) and then lots of food. Sarah and Emily joined us for the feast. It was the perfect meal after a cold ride. Mmmmm.

Stomach's full, the day ended with us leaving in different directions to spend the rest of the day working, shopping, studying, and resting. Sergio, Ben, and I rode home together until Sergio got a flat tire. Ben had to heed nature's call and split. Sergio and I walked our bikes a mile plus to the Alt to repair the flat. Finally, we made our way to our respective homes.

Ah, nice to be back on the saddle again....Until it snowed again! Geesh.

Revisiting Art of the Month

from Gabriele Stabile for The New York Times

A while back, I mentioned in FamiLee that I had initiated an "Art a Month" effort whereby I would attempt to buy art from artist friends on a monthly basis. My AaM effort has been sporadic at best, although I have made numerous purchases. Some still need to be framed, but many are now featured in my home. I also had gotten tuned into a unique, affordable way to collect art from my photographer friend, PhT, whose work is shown at the Jen Bekman gallery in NYC. Jen Bekman recently created a website called 20x200 which showcases artists work at the affordable price of $20 for a small print. I already have purchased two prints. Below is one of these purchases.

Daisy by Christina Muraczewski

Well, lo and behold, the New York Times has just featured Jen Bekman and her rise to gallery fame, including 20x200 (read here). I like to consider myself ahead of the curve on this one, albeit thanks to PhT.

Second Place Finish (with help)

What a gorgeous Winter weekend in Minnesota to enjoy the Art Shanty Projects. On Saturday, I loaded up my single-speed stallion (aka SS Amnesty) and drove out to Medicine Lake for the BIcicle races. The track is about one-half mile in length and we had to race twice around. In the first race, there were about 8 to 9 [correction - 10 or 11 based on videoclip] of us riders ranging in age and type of bicycle. Among the more serious entrants, there were probably about 8 of us. After riding in the middle of the pack, I got a lucky break when Paul who was in the lead wiped out on a turn and took out another rider. So with not much left in the race, I was able to slip into a second place finish. Afterwards, I enjoyed the beauty of the lake, visiting other shanties, talking with friends, and snacking on some food. At 3 pm, I decided to compete in the third race of the day along with good friends Erin and Liesl (and again with Paul). At one point during the first lap, I was actually in the lead, but Andrew M. sped by me on his 21-speed mountain bike and I just stared at his back the rest of the ride. Then, near the end of the race, I hit a patch of ice, got off-course, and ended up 4th. Not bad given that my legs were burning and I was exhausted. Phew! Nothing says Minnesota like riding a bicycle in the middle of Winter on a lake! After warming myself up in Paul's woodworking shanty, we went to eat some bbq and then had a private karaoke session in the Norae Shanty. A perfect day.

Art-A-Month :: Reuben Cox

Girl on a Mitsubishi bicycle by Reuben Cox

My first entry in October! Sorry for being gone so long. Things happen, time zooms by. Above is a photograph by my friend's brother-in-law, Reuben Cox. Reuben is an amazing professional photographer who lives in NYC. I posted this particular photograph because I recently purchased a print as part of my "Art-A-Month" effort. I love the overall framing of the shot, the saturation of colors, the busy background of bicycles, motorcycles, and pedestrians, and the beautiful mixte bicycle frame upon which she sits, idly reading.

Keep Art Alive.

AAM began over a year ago and I have not been faithful to the cause. In this time frame, I have purchased only 5 pieces of art, including paintings from my father, photographs by Wing Young Huie and Peter Haakon Thompson, and another piece of art by a local MCAD professor whose name escapes me at the moment (sorry!). Part of the challenge has been raising/saving enough funds, but the other issue is the cost for framing. It's sometimes as much as the piece of art itself! Still, I persist and I hope to host a showing once I collect 12 pieces of art. I think it would be a great way to promote my friends' art and to hopefully help them make a sale!

Some artists to keep in mind for future purchases -- Paul Linden, Kari Reardon, and Mike Hoyt. I actually own a watercolor painting by Mike but I want another one!

Minnesota State Fair

I mentioned briefly the other day about the State Fair in Minnesota. It's a major deal. How major? Well, the university never opens prior to the State Fair. It always opens the day after the State Fair ends. Yep, that's pretty major. It turns out that the large attendance at the fairgrounds requires extra parking space which comes courtesy of the university. The university is composed of three distinct campuses. In Minneapolis, we have the East Bank and West Bank which are divided (not surprisingly) by the grand old Mississippi River. In St. Paul, we have the (appropriately named) St. Paul campus. The East Bank and St Paul campuses are actually linked via a private commuter bus/bike road that "conveniently" bisects the fairgrounds. So, it all seems to work in synchrony.

Now, here is the important thing -- if you plan to go to the State Fair, seriously, seriously consider The Auto-Ethnographic Guide Service which is led by my artist-friend, Peter Haakon Thompson. How good is this guide service? Well, good enough to be promoted by Minnesota Public Radio! Click here to listen to Peter's multi-podcast on how he conceived of the service, what is auto-ethnography (with a credit to me), and what to bring. Plus, you can follow along with him as he gives an audio-tour of the fairgrounds. It's pretty neat stuff.

And, if you must know, I plan to bike to the fairgrounds this year. I hear you get a discount on the admission if you bicycle over. Maybe I will see you all there tomorrow.

For previous posts on the State Fair - click here, here, and here.

What I Do for Fun

Before I left for Korea, I had the chance to help out my good friend, Peter Haakon Thompson, with his ArtCar entry - The A Project. Other people, including Peter, were on rollerskates and skateboards to distribute small A posters to the public and to encourage them to post them in their windows at home to show their support for art. As I was without these small wheels, I mounted the A to spread the love.

In the coming weeks, another Minnesota event will be upon us - The State Fair. For those overwhelmed by the immensity of it (it's huge) or simply want a novel way to experience the fair, check out Peter's other project - The Auto-Ethnographic Fair Guide Service. Experience the fair as Peter has experienced it for over 30 years!

Next Steven Spielberg

I just learned that my nephew Alex got a camcorder for his 8th grade graduation and has begun making videos/movies and posting them on YouTube. Here are two of his videos. Magic (Two in One) also features Alex's brother, Conner. The other video, Brooklyn Streets, is a tad more violent and features his friends from school. What I find amazing is that he figured out all of this editing and posting stuff on his own. Kids today are so much smarter than when we were kids.

YouTube Can Be a Star!

I had blogged a while back about having been interviewed for a documentary on international adoption. I just discovered a number of YouTube clips of the interview, as it appears the film, titled Adopted The Movie, is nearing release (scheduled for Fall of 2007). These are clips of me talking about Asian Stereotypes, Beauty and Loss. It definitely is weird seeing yourself on screen. Being self-critical, I notice that I have some sort of mouth thing going on where the right side of my mouth is a la Sylvester Stallone (who has some sort of minor facial paralysis or something from what I understand). Hm...Have I had a stroke without knowing it? The other funny thing is the computer monitor. It is not recognizable, but I had put up the website for BigBadChineseMama.

Other friends also are YouTube stars these days. Here is Hapa9 and PhT deinstalling the Norae Shanty from a recent event at the Walker Art Center's Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis.

Notes from the Velvet Underground

When I was in high school, suffering through my assortment of identity and family crises, I found lots of solace in music. I listened to mostly punk, hardcore, new wave, and other modern/alternative rock tunes, including early generations of these forms. One of these early vanguard bands was the Velvet Underground. Man, there were so many days where I just listened over and over to this Warhol-managed band, fronted by Lou Reed and for a time led by vocalist Nico.

I am working today at Anodyne Coffeeshop in an adjacent neighborhood to my home and I heard VU playing overhead with their song Femme Fatale. Gosh, I had forgotten about VU but they still hold a special place in my heart. Their music, melodies and lyrics were great. Sparse but full of sound at the same time. Haunting yet soothing. Just lovely music.

For those not in the know or who are curious or who want to enjoy some VU favorites, click HERE or HERE to listen to some songs on YouTube.

Sun Yung Shin :: Skirt Full of Black

I meet a lot of people through karaoke. Sun Yung Shin is one such person. Well, let me clarify. We first met briefly at a photography exhibit of the Tour de France by Caroline Yang. Shortly thereafter, we met singing karaoke. Not only can SY hold a tune, she can write. I mean, write. Not this sort of blogging stuff (though she does a bit of it too).

Her latest book (as in she has written more than one; see here and here) is titled Skirt Full of Black. This is a collection of poetry that interrogates through poetics the nature and meaning of culture, race, adoption, family, identity, religion, and sovereignty of nation and state (among other things).

Come to her book launch on May 1, 2007, 7 p.m.
with Yuko Taniguchi and Wang Ping
Loft Literary Center, Minneapolis

And....Read a feature story on her in the Pioneer Press.

Minnesota Moment

Check out this Minnesota Moment. It's a promotion bit for the SPP exhibit and I was interviewed for it a week ago. Somehow, they spliced together our conversation to make me sound coherent. Thank you, editors!

Back to Reality and Other Monday Musings

Wow, what a weekend. Friday night was the mega-going away party for my dear friend, Kenny O. Saturday was the Still Present Pasts opening reception. Sunday night was the closing performance of Blood Wedding which featured my friend, Kurt Kwan. It was an art filled weekend. Perfect.

Rode my bike today to work. I love the bicycle computer that I received for Christmas. I attached it to my RB-1 and the nerd in me rejoices each time I ride. It's cool to see my current speed, average speed, distance traveled, total miles traveled. For example, it took 35 minutes to ride 8.4 miles to work this morning. When I drive my car to work, it is about 8.1 miles and takes me (on average) about 20 minutes to park my car. Then, it is another 5-7 minutes to walk to my office. So, riding my bicycle is only about an extra 10 minutes each way. Not bad with the benefits of exercise and saving the planet earth.

With SPP now fully underway, I can breathe a bit of relief and re-focus my energies on my research now. Plus, I can resume playing basketball again. Double Yay!

A Smashing Success!!! STILL PRESENT PASTS

Still Present Pasts opened last night to a standing room only crowd at Intermedia Arts. It was an amazing turnout. Estimates were around 300 people at any given time with a total attendance of 500 or so. How do we know it was this many people in attendance? Well, the opening ceremony was held in the theater which holds 150 and there were another 50 or so sitting on the stairs and floor and standing against the hallway walls to watch Korean drumming and dance, to listen to poetry, and to meet the SPP artists and contributors. Wow, what a show! Plus, there were another 100 or more people outside in the gallery. And as Mrs Park, member of the SPP steering committee (and executive director of the Korean Service Center), noted, she brought 500 cups and they were all used by the end of the evening!

I was amazed by the number and diverstiy of people who came to support the exhibit, the artists, and everyone involved in the exhibit. I am humbled by all this interest, all the love and support. Thank you to all those who attended, who believed in this exhibit, and who simply put up with me during this whole time.

The exhibit installation itself is awesome. It draws upon the personal and collective stories of Korean War survivors and depicts them in ways that reach people of all ages, races, nationalities, and immigration histories. The pieces are stunningly beautiful and at the same time they offer a sense of solemn serenity and meditation on war. Please come to view the national exhibit, but also to visit the five local visual art pieces which accompany the national exhibit in the Sandy Agustin cafe gallery space.

And there is more! For the next seven weeks, we will be hosting a series of public programs around the Twin Cities that feature Korean American artists. Next week, we will be at the Loft Literary Center performance space on Saturday night, in collaboration with Mu Performing Arts, to showcase five plays and literary performances -- Karen HeaChung Lyu: “Memories & Media Myths of Iran & North Korea: Exploring Personal Identity, Cultural Heritage and Media Soundbites”, Paul Juhn: “WORKS of ART,” kim thompson: excerpt from the show “timeline autobiographia: everything that is…, Ed Bok Lee: excerpt from “GLOW III,” and Sun Mee Chomet: excerpt from “asiamnesia”

One More Day :: STILL PRESENT PASTS

Tomorrow night is the big opening reception for the STILL PRESENT PASTS exhibit at Intermedia Arts, presented by the University of Minnesota Institute for Advanced Study in partnership with Intermedia Arts and Korean Quarterly.

PLEASE READ - The art exhibit is only one aspect of the Minnesota Still Present Pasts exhibit and public programs. There will be weekly educational, artistic, and community programs that encourage people to reflect on the legacies of war on American society. Click here for a full listing of events and keep visiting this site to find out what is new. In fact, you will see that we have two talks happening this afternoon on the UMN campus! Start the experience now...come to these talks!

Two More Days :: One More Day

Two more days till the opening reception for the Still Present Pasts exhibit. I can't believe it is almost here. I am excited, nervous, proud, amazed. Mostly, I am amazed at the dedication and commitment of the steering committee, particularly Anne P, Jennifer and Holly, who have put in more hours than one can imagine to make this show a smashing success. They are the engine and wheels that kept this show on the road. Me? I was just the driver and oftentimes driving with cruise control. I could not have done it without them. I'm a lucky person and the community as a whole benefits from their efforts. If you see them, give them a high-five and a big thank you.

One more day till my close friend Kenny/Kenji/Ken's going away party. Friday night from 6 pm till dawn. He's moving to Miami, land of Don Johnson and CSI-Miami, on Sunday. The party is happening at Grumpy's on Washington Ave. We received the party room and will have (surprise) karaoke and guitar hero! It will be fun. It will be crazy. It will be well worth coming to check out the extravaganza.

Three More Days :: It's More than Art

The Still Present Pasts exhibit is more than just art. It is the collective memories and stories of individuals and families affected by war and displacement. It is about growing up without a history, without family heirlooms, without an appreciation of sacrifices, losses, and yearnings. When I was young, my parents avoided discussions about the war. On occasion, my mother would make a passing reference to Japanese soldiers, living without heat or food, and even my grandmother being put in front of a death squad. They were like morsels of the best tasting food that I had ever eaten but, in the same instance, it was like a forbidden fruit that I could not ask for again. It was taboo to ask openly. I rarely did.

As I got older, I found myself avoiding the subject because I didn't want to burden my parents. They worked long hours and were tired most of the time, so I just let them rest. In turn, they thought only of the future and avoided recollecting the past. Sometimes, my father would mention a distant relative or classmate and wonder aloud if the person was still alive in what is now North Korea. Usually, he already had drank a beer to relax after a 14 hour work day.

As chair of the steering committee for the Still Present Pasts exhibit and programming, I have had a chance to revisit this collective and family history. On my recent trip home, I asked my father about our family tree, our heritage, our lineage. He chuckled in amusement at this request but then seriously focused on the task at hand. Suddenly, he would recall various tidbits of information. It was as if 54 years after the war was finally enough time to look back and share. These morsels of history made my hungry mind feel sated for the first time.

Please check out our series of SPP events that are occurring each week throughout the run of the exhibit. Click here for a full listing of events.

Four More Days :: STILL PRESENT PASTS

I have returned from 11 days of conference travel with a 2-day stopover in Connecticut to visit my family. The trip was bookended by a conference on child development in Boston and on a conference on Asian American Studies in NYC. I returned home on Easter and have been catching up since. Here is what I must say about my trip -- I am getting old. I used to really look forward to traveling because I never really had the opportunity growing up (beyond the roadtrip to Cape Cod or Niagara Falls). Now, after 10-15,000 airline miles a year, I just don't like living out of a suitcase as much. The allure of a new destination has worn off and, even though I always enjoy eating at restaurants and absorbing the sites, I always always appreciate my own bed back home. Okay, enough privileged complaining.

In 4 (count them, 1, 2, 3, 4) days, the Still Present Pasts exhibit opens up at Intermedia Arts at 2822 Lyndale Ave South in Minneapolis. The reception begins at 7 pm and the opening ceremony which features mega-superstar poets Walter K. Lew, Ed Bok Lee, and Sun Yung Shin begins at 8 pm.

More to come....

Still Present Pasts :: Korean Americans and the Forgotten War

For the past 1.5 years, I have been heavily involved in the planning, fundraising, and promotion of STILL PRESENT PASTS which is a traveling national multimedia art and oral history exhibit on the legacies of the Korean War as reflected upon and remembered by Korean Americans (click here for more info). The SPP national exhibit features art inspired by the oral histories of generations of Korean Americans who personally lived through the Korean War or who have been affected by the war through immigration, adoption, or other disruptions and displacements.

The Minnesota Still Present Pasts committee, chaired by me, is composed of faculty and staff from the University of Minnesota, artists and community leaders, and representatives from Intermedia Arts and Korean Quarterly. The SPP is presented by the UMN Institute for Advanced Study in partnership with many university and community organizations. Together, we have assembled an amazing array of local art and program events to complement the national exhibit.

Over the next week or two, I will be drawing readers' attention to the exhibit and related programs. But for now, mark this date -- APRIL 14th at 7 pm! This is the opening night blowout at Intermedia Arts at 2822 Lyndale Ave South in Minneapolis. Invite 10 people and come to the exhibit opening.

Slip of the Tongue

My friend Christine (via her husband Tai) forwarded this video clip to me and I just had to get online to spread the word. It's an amazing piece of poetry and video. It's called Slip of the Tongue. It was part of the Sixth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival. Check it out!

Art a Month Musings

I made a decision a year or so ago to try to purchase more artwork. My impetus was a strong desire (a) to actually decorate my home's very bare walls and (b) to support local artists. My stated goal at the time was to purchase one piece of art a month and my end goal was to host an art reception in which I invite the twelve artists whose works I had purchased in the past year and as many friends that can fit into the house. Perhaps, I thought, some other friends would feel inspired to purchase more art from these artists. Great idea, right?

Well, after the purchase of one photograph from Wing Young Huie, my monthly art purchase stopped. What happened? First, I had not correctly calculated into this equation the true cost of framing. Second, I had not realized the importance of actively searching out the next art piece for purchase. Third, I had come into possession of two (and now three) paintings from my father which required a fair amount of money to frame.

Fast forward a year....

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the 55408 exhibit at Intermedia Arts. I wrote about it here. While at the reception, hanging out with friends, singing a song or two (Thunder Road by the Boss and, for the first time ever, All Night Long by Lionel Richie), I decided to take a look around at the artwork. The 55408 show is unique in that anyone who lives in (or around) the 55408 zipcode area can have their work shown. Now, this strategy may seem dangerous (what crayon drawings on a napkin from the Uptown Bar might end up on display?) but it seems to work. Obviously, some works are stronger than others, but it's a great tribute to the plethora of working (and weekend) artists residing in South Minneapolis.

Well, I ended up buying three pieces of felt art by local artist Margaret McGee who is a professor at MCAD. I purchased the one that is above and two similar ones (see the rest of the Molecules series). They are still on display at IA till mid-March, so feel free to check them out!

This spur of the moment purchase has really got me motivated to re-start this "art a month" project. I may have to scale back a bit on other things to make it affordable, but it is something I would really like to do. So...which artist is up next? Suggestions are welcome.

Friday Haiku :: Minus Two

Some people have a Friday Cat blog. I have decided to start a Friday Haiku blog posting. A quick google search of "friday haiku and blog" reveals that this is not a novel idea! Nevertheless, I am going to attempt it. It may not occur every Friday, but I shall do my best.

Title: Minus Two

My thick blood chills at
Winter nadir's arrival
Birds begin flight home

Shantyscape

I have decided to take some photographs using my 35 mm Nikon n2000 camera that I received as a graduate gift from college back in 1990. It's a great camera but it's terribly underused in this digital era. What I love about the camera (and also hate when I am not wanting to be patient) is that it forces me to manually focus the lens, as it is not automated. It also is the perfect camera to use when outside in the deep cold because I have found that the battery life is much longer than my digital camera which seems to die in the freezing weather. At any rate, here is a photo that I took which gies a nice perspective on the Art Shanty Projects.

Weekend Arts Roundup

This is a busy and important weekend of Arts! So much to do!

Tonight, check out sculptural work by Rollin Marquette at the Minneapolis Institute of Art's Minnesota's Artist Gallery as part of the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program. The opening reception runs from 7-9 pm tonight.

Tomorrow, check out the Big A Project by Peter Haakon Thompson at the Nash Gallery on the University of Minnesota campus from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm.

After the Nash exhibit, head over to Intermedia Arts for the opening of the 55408 exhibit which was co-curated by Sergio Vucci and Bridgette Rongitsch. The reception will feature karaoke singing with none other than Hapa9 as KJ.

And of course, the Art Shanty Projects continues all weekend long. Woodwork artist Paul Linden and I were working on an ice skating rink last weekend, so hopefully you can bring your skates too!

Champagne Chair Contest :: Cast Your VOTE!

Isn't this a sexy chair? It's inspired by the glamour and beauty of champagne. My friend Warren Young, senior designer at Blu Dot, designed the Jessica Marie. Warren and I met on Tuesday nights playing basketball with a ragtag group of primarily artists and educators. Oftentimes, I must guard him which is technically a challenge given that he has a 6 inch height advantage on me. Fortunately, I can employ my spiderman defense on him and use my Barkley-esque post-up moves on him on offense (haha - j/k).

But seriously -- Help Warren win the Design Within Reach Champagne Chair Contest by casting your vote. Vote soon so he can advance to the next round!

A Weekend of Song :: Loverboy!

It's going to be a weekend of song. Of course, the Art Shanty Projects continue this weekend and I am sure I will be spelling Hapa9 at the Norae Shanty as KJ (karaoke jockey). Come with your songs and a healthy set of lungs!

However, the weekend of song officially will get started on Friday night with (drum roll please) a Loverboy concert at Treasure Island Casino (courtesy of EBok).

Loverboy defined a generation with their trademark red leather pants and thundering rock sound and now they're heading to The Island for two energetic shows! Hear them live as they perform awesome hits such as “Working for the Weekend,” “Lovin' Every Minute Of It,” and “Turn Me Loose.”

After a spell at the Shanties on Saturday afternoon, HW and I, along with some other friends, will catch Young Jean Lee's play - Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven (A show about white people in love) - at the Walker Art Center.

Provocative writer/director Young Jean Lee’s worst nightmare is to make anything as predictable as a confessional, Korean American identity play with a flowery Asian-sounding title, so she decided to do just that. Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven follows a character named “Korean-American” as she navigates—like a contestant in an identity-politics video game—the increasingly disturbing levels of a pseudo-Korean world. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a white couple appears and begins having a dysfunctional relationship drama that eventually takes over the play. Full of blunt observations and unexpected turns, Lee’s warped, funny take on her heritage raises difficult questions about race, culture, and identity that leave the audience uneasy, exhilarated, and grappling for answers

Hope to see some of you at one of these song activities!

Art Shanty Projects 2007

Photos courtesy of Kenji O.

On Saturday, I went to the opening of the Art Shanty Projects on Medicine Lake in Plymouth, MN. It was a wonderful day. It began with a tasty brunch with Venora and Eric and then we headed over to the lake. V and E had never been to the ASP before, so I gave them a tour of some of the shanties, serving as the docent for the day. It was cold, but the sun was out just enough to make it tolerable. Plus, I am now a firm believer that wool is the new fleece (or rather fleece is no longer the new wool). With layers of wool, I was warm despite the bone chilling cold.

I spent 9 hours outside (and inside various shanties), finally departing at midnight after a few hours of eating, singing, and laughing. It was a full, happy day. The shanties this year were a step up from past years. I think artists are taking more risks, giving it all more thought, and spending lots more time on the planning and construction of their designs. The Lincoln Log shanty (above) was just one example of a really impressive effort. Another shanty was 2+ stories tall - I referred to it as the Malaysian skyscraper. There was a shanty insulated with stuffed animals and still another that was completely lined with pine tree branches (a reuse of a Christmas tree?). And of course, the norae shanty was rocking the house all day and night.

Congratulations to all the artists who contributed to the ASP this year. A wonderful job. Fortunately for us all, there are 5 more weeks to enjoy the Art Shanty Projects!

It's Getting Cold = Art Shanty Projects Opening!

Painting by Hapa9

It is finally getting cold up here in Minnesota. We've had an unseasonably warm winter thus far. For those unfamiliar with our neck of the woods, "warm" means temps in the high 20s and 30s. By this weekend, we will be back to our norm of temps in the single digits or teens. Usually, I am planning my "fun in the sun" vacation to take a break from the bitter cold temps, but I am actually looking forward to the cold front this winter. Why?! Am I going native? Well, not exactly but sort of.

On Saturday, it is the opening of the Art Shanty Projects on Medicine Lake in nearby Plymouth, MN. The ASP is a "five week exhibition of science, art, knitting, karaoke, games, performances, mail, pinhole cameras, cacti and art cars. The Art Shanty Projects are part gallery, part residency and part social experiment, inspired by the tradition of ice fishing and ice fishing houses used in the Minnesota winter."

I have gone to the last three ASP exhibits on ice and it is definitely one of the highlights of winter. Good friends, PHT and Hapa9, have two of the original shanties and Hapa9's norae shanty (aka karaoke ice house) is the most popular exhibit there. You can find me most weekends helping man the karaoke machine as literally hundreds of people try their hand at the mic. American Idol may be premiering next week on tv, but why watch others sing when you can be an idol for a song or two or three.

So, if you want to experience a true Minnesota art phenomenon, come to the Art Shanty Projects opening on Saturday, January 13th, on Medicine Lake.

Even Lutherans Don't All Look the Same!

My good friend and A-number 1 basketball player, Wing Young Huie, has a new photography exhibit on display at the U of M's Immigration History Research Center. There is a nice MPR radio broadcast and article about the exhibit which was co-created by Allison Adrian (UMN student in ethnomusicology).

Spend the last few days before and after Christmas doing something different and exciting. Check out the exhibit!

Zombie Rights

Back in July, I was hanging out with friends, shooting pool at Grumpy's on Washington Ave. While playing a bad game of pool, a group of hipsters dressed as zombies made their way into the bar. They were funny and nice. I thought nothing of it, given that this group also had performed at the Art Shanty Projects over the winter. They were a known group in town and harmless as the walking dead.

Well, it turns out that this group of fun loving zombies were arrested by Minneapolis police under suspicion of carrying "simulated weapons of mass destruction." No joke. Here is the article on it from back in July.

Now, it is the zombie's turn to strike back. Looks like they have filed a lawsuit against the city for violating their civil rights. Click here for full story.

I also noticed that one of the arrested individuals has the last name of Utne....hm, I wonder if he is related at all to the founders of the Utne Reader. I imagine it is the case given the uniqueness of the surname. Incidentally, ten plus years ago, I used to read the Utne, not knowing that it was based in Minneapolis. Seems the past and present intertwine again and again.

Styling Hair, Karaoke Rhymes, and Helping the Homeless

A letter from my good friend, Hapa9...

Dear Friends,
Oh yes, there are so many reasons to come by this weekend to support two great youth serving organizations!

For example:
1) Looking good. That is right folks, a $30 donation gets you the latest ultra styling hair do by a professional stylist!
2) Feeling good. Yes, feel good that you are supporting two organizations that support homeless teens in the twin cities.
3) Supporting Art. Come by Moxie Gallery and view some amazing photography by youth artists. Buy artwork (the holidays are coming...) Profits go directly back to youth artists!
4) Time is no issue. Yep, this event goes 24 hours straight!
5) Live entertainment! performances by L. Preston West, Michael Morris, and Jimmy Barnett, Ashley Gold, Angie Oase, and The Purple House Project. In addition, there will be an open mic and a DJ on the SOOVAC STAGE.
6) Karaoke insanity! Just think, at 3:00 AM you can have a personal serenade while you get your bangs trimmed! Think of the possibilities of a flock of seaguls hair do while someone sings "I Ran."
7) Sleep out and Pancakes!

Hope you can make it with three of your long haired friends! More details below...

Michael Hoyt
Kulture Klub Collaborative

Living Art and a Bad Case of Mistaken Identity

A few weeks ago, my friends and I decided to go to the Walker After Hours soiree that is held on Friday nights. On the night of said event, they happened to have an interactive, online camera in which the public could get their photos taken to be a part of the Walker Flikr site. Of course, for all who know me, I could not pass up the opportunity to be a part of the Walker Art Center....ahem...to get my photo taken.

Now, during this same period of time, I have had a number of encounters with random people whom I don't know well in which they tell me that I look like (a) the Japanese guy on the new television show Heroes (b) Bobby Lee from MADtv and (c) Ed Bok Lee. Geesh. Do they really think we all look the same? ARGH!

Well, just to set the record straight, I am in only one of the above Walker Flikr photos! And I am neither jumping nor flexing!

Here are a few more just to make sure people know who is who.

Friday Happening...

It's Thursday but it's time to plan for what to do on Friday night. My recommendation is to check out the show at First Ave tomorrow. Why? Because it's the record release party for Savage Aural Hotbed. More importantly, Mu Daiko will be opening up for them to energize the crowd with great taiko drumming. Mu Daiko goes on around 9 pm, so get your tickets and I will see you there.

Wing Young Huie Exhibit

Here is an upcoming gallery opening for everyone to check out. Wing is a good friend and an amazing photographer. Heck, he has a photograph on permanent exhibit at the Walker! Plus, Wing is a generous supporter of other young and emerging artists and a founding bedrock of the Asian American arts community in the Twin Cities. Okay, one more cool reason to check out Wing's show -- he may challenge you to a three-point shooting contest if you dare.

Check Out DJ Apah Tonight!

Remember how hot and humid it was just a week ago? You didn't want to go outside except to make your way into some air conditioned room. Well, the weather has been much better the last few days and today is turning out gorgeous. Why not enjoy the evening with some music and movie at Loring Park. My good friend Hapa9 (aka DJ Apah) is spinning tunes as part of the Walker Art Center's Summer Music and Movies (30th Anniversary). Pack a light dinner, bring some cool summer drinks, and unfurl your blanket under the city sky. Music starts at 6:30 pm. [note - it's 6:30, not 7:00 as originally posted]

Music: STNNNG
Remember when punk was scarydirtyrude and relevant to boot? Don’t lose hope, hometown heroes STNNNG certainly haven’t, and they’re here to make you care about the past and future of the form once again. Building on the legacy of broken wailers like the VSS and Nation of Ulysses, this hard-charging fivesome plays lightning quick songs riddled with tight guitars and even sharper lyrics that accuse but never abuse, and definitely, always, have an opinion.

Movie: Bringing Up Baby
Directed by Howard Hawks
Hawks ramps up the zany antics in one of the most endearing comedies of all time. Uptight paleontologist Dr. David Huxley (Cary Grant) is bewitched by the accident-prone, eccentric Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn). After his precious dinosaur bone goes missing at her country house, it’s George the dog and Baby the pet leopard who top the list of suspects. And then things get a little crazy. 1938, U.S., BW, 16mm, 102 minutes.

The Korean Dream

A few years ago, Bao Phi coined the term Korean Dream to describe Ed Bok Lee and it seems Ed is trying his hardest to live up to this moniker. Here is the latest cover spread of Ed, promoting his book Real Karaoke People in Seoul, South Korea, from the magazine SEOUL.

Okay, enough about KD. I've promoted the man's book enough.

Pojangmacha

I grew up eating this stuff on Sundays after church, at every Korean picnic outing, at home with my grandmother. It is kimbop and it's wonderfully healthy, tasty, filling food. In Korea, you can buy and eat kimbop from street vendors, along with other great foods (click here).

It is time for Mpls to move more to the edge of culinary art and embrace the pojangmacha (Korean street food vendors). It seems a similar trend is picking up for Japanese variants on pub food (click here for food review). All of which follows on the heels of the tapas craze.

Two weekends ago, Hapa9 and I made 100 kimbop rolls with help from friends for Andy's wedding out in Osceola, WI. It was an amazing sight (and tasty too). Hapa9 prefers to use the bamboo rollers but I prefer to use just my hands. It must be genetic because I can roll some tight kimbops (same holds true for fresh spring rolls), just like my mom and grandmom. The best part of making kimbop is when you eat the cutoff ends after you slice the rolls. It's a chef's treat!

Were I to open up a pojangmacha (which I am in serious about), I would include some other specialties, such as Korean style chicken wings (my specialty), fried flour battered whole fish on a stick (with edible bones), and of course tteokbokki (or dukbokee) which is a spicy rice cake treat.

So watch out Mpls for my friends and I when we open up our poja joint!

NATURE: Beautiful Mount Gumgahng

To read about my father's exhibit, including a brief biography and artistic statement, click on the NATURE link.

A Belated Father's Day

By Ung Lim Lee

Next weekend, the 1st week of July, I will be traveling home to Connecticut to visit my father. Well, that's not very exact. I actually am going home to attend my father's very first public art exhibit at the town library. He is now 73 years old, retired (though he still works a bit at the family business), a widow, remarried, and spends a lot of his days painting. Painting has been his life long passion since his childhood in Korea. I am very proud of him and can't wait to see the exhibit and to see the joy on his face.

My father grew up in Sariwon in northern Korea as best I can discern. I am hesitant with this fact because he has never told me exactly where he grew up. I learned this bit of family geneology from a great uncle who once drew me a family tree of my father's side. I do know that his family was Christian (3+ generations in NK), which is really not too surprising because Christian missionaries were quite successful in this region of Korea. They also at one time had some wealth, owning a pottery factory of some sort. I just recall my mom teasing my dad about having grown up doing nothing but playing Korean chess. My dad would just laugh.

His father (my grandfather) died at a young age from what we now believe to be tuberculosis. He must have only been around my age when he died. It was hard to get medicine back then during the Japanese occupation. As the oldest child and only son, my dad was responsible to care for the family. I am not sure how this all occurred back then because he was still so young. Plus, my father had lost his left arm (just below the elbow) in some mysterious train accident when he was still a boy, around 13 years old. Not surprisingly, my grandmother was a strong presence in the family (and throughout my childhood).

What I do know is that my father studied art in high school and eventually at Hong-Ik University when the family migrated and reunited in Seoul during/after the Korean War. He never graduated from Hong-Dae though. I recently asked him why not and he only replied that he changed his major and didn't have enough credits. I suspect the family also ran out of money. Times were tough back then.

All these years, art has sustained my father. He worked in advertising for over 25 years prior to starting a family business, but he always was doing art from painting to inventing. Growing up, I remember art supplies everywhere. We didn't have lots and lots of toys but I had my pick of charcoals, paints, markers, pens, tape, rulers, sliders, drafting tables, velum paper, etc. He taught me how to write in blocked letters, how to shadow, how to use perspective, how to draw faces. I still remember, if I jar my memory and practice.

Yet my father never had an art exhibit. Instead, he just painted and painted and painted. Changing his techniques and media from time to time. He painted on the cheap. He had old beat up brushes, used scrap wood for a canvas, and always looked for art sales to buy paint at a discount. He would buy cheap, factory produced paintings, cut out the painting, and simply use the frame for his own art.

In 2002, my mother was planning an art exhibit for my father to celebrate his 70th birthday. He was very excited and was painting a lot back then. Unfortunately, my mom died just less than a month before the slated exhibit date. My father also had his share of health problems and the exhibit never materialized. For a couple of years, my father put down the paint brush.

It's a bit delayed but my father's day is now upon us. I am happy, happy for him. He is getting to show his art to the world and he gets to do what he's always dreamed of doing. It may have taken 40 years of life in America but he is getting to finally live his American Dream.

Happy Belated Father's Day.

HEARTBEAT :: Celebrating Body and Rhythm

Just gotta give a quick plug to Holly's upcoming collaborative performance with One Voice Mixed Chorus, a local LGBT and friends community choral group, and Mu Daiko, a local taiko drumming group. One Voice has commissioned Holly to compose a unique performance piece that mixes together taiko drumming and choral singing. It's pretty amazing stuff. Check it out this Saturday and Sunday.

Continuing Legacies of the Korean War

In a BBC report, there is a story about a South Korean teenager who was abducted by the North Korean government when he was 13 years old in 1978. Apparently, North and South Korea are negotiating to allow the man - Kim Young-Nam - to meet his mother, now 82 years old, during a family reunification meeting. It's a bitter tragic tale that reflects one of more than 500 South Koreans who have been abducted over the years.

I was personally struck by this story because my father is from what is now called North Korea. His family fled south like the millions of others during the Korean War. As a displaced citizen, he still has yearnings for the homeland. When I was a teenager, for instance, I remember how he would look at a small pocket size book of photographs of childhood friends and relatives (much like the photograph of Kim Young-Nam). I think the booklet was either an address directory or a school yearbook of sorts. He would point at photographs and tell me little stories of about the person. "This person was my best friend." "This girl was my cousin."

Later in life, my father made (and continues to make) comments about wanting to retire in a rural village in South Korea, because it would remind him of home further north. Then, a few years ago, he had the oppportunity to visit a national mountain range in North Korea as part of an arranged tour for South Koreans. It was a heartwarming return home of sorts for him. Since the visit, he has begun to furiously paint scenes from the mountain. I am fortunate to now own one of the paintings. Quite honestly, I think he has used art to help reconcile the trauma and pain of loss and displacement.

Fittingly, I am working this summer with Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis, the Institute for Advanced Studies at the U, and the Asian American Studies Program at the U to bring to the Twin Cities an amazing multimedia art exhibit titled "Still Present Pasts."

The exhibit features contemporary reflections on the impact of the Korean War across generations of Korean Americans, including immigrants, US-born, and adoptees. It includes major installations, paintings, documentaries, performance art, oral histories, and more. It's a wonderful opportunity to combine academic scholarship with art in a manner that fully engages the local community. Still Present Pasts also provides me with an opportunity to look deeper into my own family experiences with the Korean War, the transmission of these experiences across generation lines, and its affect on my personal life and professional work.

I think I will invite my father to visit Minneapolis when the exhibit opens.

A Marriage of True Minds

A MARRIAGE OF TRUE MINDS
Thursday, June 8, 2006
6:00 PM at Intermedia Arts
2822 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis
RSVP: 612-871-4444

Yes, Intermedia Arts and SASE: The Write Place have merged! Come celebrate with us at this you-can't-miss-it night of eclectic performances by special guest poets, writers, spoken word and performance artists including Desdamona, Ed Bok Lee, Gabrielle Civil, Barrie Jean Borich, Carol Connolly, Ibé Kaba, Ellen Hinchcliffe, Marcus Young and more! Learn about our organizations, the artists who call us home and the fascinating possibilities of our futures together as we revel in the power of words. Plus DJ, dancing, hors d’oeuvres and libations!

The American War :: An Art Exhibit

A photograph from "The American War" showing three children who were affected by Agent Orange. Photo downloaded from NYTimes

Back in March, I wrote a blog entry about an artist -- Harrell Fletcher -- whom I met through my friend Peter, another artist. I was perusing the web (checking on Michelle Wie's quest to qualify for the U.S. Open, if you must know) and came across a NYTimes review of a new exhibit of Harrell's work that is travelling the country right now. It is called The American War and it is powerful. I hope it comes to the Twin Cities.

Here is a synopsis of the exhibit (taken from Harrell's website):

In June, 2005 I was in Vietnam for a month as part of an international artists retreat. While I was there I visited The War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, which is a memorial museum for what is referred to in Vietnam as The American War. I was so affected by what I saw at the museum that I went back several times and eventually photographed all of the images and text descriptions from the main museum - over two hundred photos. I used my digital camera and took the shots hand held at off angles to avoid reflections. The images have an oddly casual quality but are still accurate representations of the material depicted at the museum - with a similarly horrifying quality. I decided to print the photographs and exhibit them at various venues around the U.S. as a sort of re-presentation of the material I encountered in Vietnam. The photographs for this show are a selection of about half of all the pictures in the museum's main exhibition hall.

Along with the exhibition I also organized several public events related to the Vietnam War--a film screening of Hearts and Minds, a series of talks by local people who had personal experience with Vietnam, and a group discussion about The Vietnam War and war in general.

WORD! The Rise of Ed Bok Lee and Bao Phi

A wonderful article on two of the Twin Cities hottest spoken word artists appeared in the Sunday edition of the Star Tribune. Check it out here. Way to go boys.

Crib Candy is My New Drug

Folks who know me and who have been to my home know that I am a home decor consumer. A bit on the haute side perhaps, but more importantly a lover of functional yet elegant design.

I have recently come to love this site called Crib Candy. It definitely satisfies my sweet tooth de la casa.

Peter Haakon Thompson on Public Art

It's a week of art on FamiLee Life. In the midst of grading papers, holding end of the semester meetings, and trying to find some time to write articles that are way past due, I find tremendous respite in the art of my friends.

Today, I was sent a link to The Morning News which features a Q & A story about my friend, Peter Haakon Thompson, creator of the A Project and the Art Shanty Projects. I met Peter a couple of years ago thru my friend Mike and he's become a regular on the Minneapolis Karaoke Tour with the rest of the Wednesday night boys. Aside from being an amazing artist, he also happens to be my go-to handyman who has helped me keep my home sturdy and usable.

To me, Peter's photographs echo the point of contact between man and nature. Between physical and ethereal. Between belonging and loneliness. Between home and afar.

Check out the gallery of photographs that accompany the article and tell me what you think.

Dan Bruggeman Exhibit

I missed the opening for this exhibit but it's a great one. Check out some amazing paintings by another of the Tuesday night basketball crew -- Dan Bruggeman. Dan is a Lecturer in Art at Carleton College. The exhibit features painted layered images from ornithology (birds) texts. The show is running till June 3rd at the Groveland Gallery which is just behind the Walker Art Center (atop the hill).

Wing Young Huie Exhibit

One day about 5 years ago, I met this guy by the name of Wing Young Huie. I had met him at some Asian American function (maybe a book reading or maybe a Korean adoptee event) and quickly learned about his local fame. Wing is a Twin Cities photographer from one of Minnesota's most famous Chinese American families. Apparently, you can find a photo of him as a young boy (standing beside his mother) at the Duluth Aquarium. I also happened to find photos of his family in the book, titled Chinese in Minnesota. At any rate, over the years, I've had the good fortunte to become friends with him, playing basketball on Tuesday nights, grabbing a drink and watching ESPN on other nights, and attending various art functions on weekends.

On Saturday evening, he is having an art show to exhibit some of his photography. Come check it out. It's great stuff. In fact, I just bought one of his photographs last week!

My New Favorite Online Thing...

...is Little Radio. I stumbled upon it at the right time...just when I was needing a lift to adjust to Daylight Savings Time. As I said before, music is the opium for the soul.

The Peace of Wild Things

I simply love this poem - The Peace of Wild Things. I found it years ago back when I was in my "poetry" phase of life. In fact, for quite a number of years, I had the poem framed alongside some photographs that I had taken of the sun rising off the Atlantic Ocean with the shadow of a flock of birds in the distance. The poem and photographs beautifully complemented each other. It was hung in my bathroom and each morning I would read it as I brushed my teeth. It was a great way to start the day. I no longer have this poem hanging in my bathroom but I have continued to return to the poetry of Wendell Berry. There is something about his writing style that just resonates with me. It is simple and honest, yet elegant and holy.

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

— Wendell Berry

Learning to Love You More...

One of the great things that I love about living in Minneapolis is the amazing artists who live in this community and whom you may meet on any given day. Last night was one such occasion. As I've mentioned before, I get together on Wednesday nights with a group of guys to just have guy time. Sometimes we sing karaoke, other times we shoot pool. More than anything, we just sit around and talk. Talk about anything and everything...including debates about "What is art?", relationship woes and joys, state of the economy, evolutionary behavior, and more. This group of guys include a poet/playwright, a multimedia artist/homeless advocate, an actor, a web designer/consultant, a photographer, and a few others. Sometimes, a visiting friend comes along. Last night, it was an artist named Harrell Fletcher.

Harrell is in town to give a series of talks at the UMN. Unfortunately, I can't attend them due to scheduling conflicts but we got to talking about one of his recent ongoing conceptual, interactive projects titled Learning to Love You More. The photograph above is taken from this website. In essence, assignments are posted online for viewers to consider completing and then submitting to the site. The cat under the bed is a response to Assignment #50 which asked the following:

Don't vacuum or alter anything under your bed beforehand. Take a photo under there with a strong flash, preferably with the camera sitting on the ground. Make sure your photograph is in focus! We are looking for photos that depict the space between the bottom of the bed and the floor, please do not send us photos if your bed is flush against the floor.

I simply love this idea! Here, people can take part in a series of artistic projects that reflect art in the making or art in the raw. It draws upon personal narratives, as depicted in images, voice, and writing, and aggregates these disparate stories to give a coherent representation of life today.

Lowbright

Somewhere along the way in my internet and blogosphere travels, I came upon Lowbright which is the brain child of Derek Kirk Kim, an amazing comic illustrator. Click here and here to read some features on the man and his work. The above comic, Same Difference, can be viewed online for free.

If you visit his website, you can follow along as he illustrates and narrates a daily story, titled Healing Hands.

Constrata

One of my favorite local painters, Brad Geiken, is exhibiting some of his new work this weekend at Macalester College. Unfortunately, I am out of town on business (at the Expert Summit on Immigration in San Antonio). If you have time and want to check out some wonderful paintings, head over to St. Paul!

Constrata:
artwork by David Wyric and Brad Geiken

February 3, 2006
Macalester College
Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center

7:00 PM Constrata Artist's Reception
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Gallery
A reception will be held for the artist's participating in the exhibition Constrata. The event is free and open to the public.

Art Shanty Project Update

The Sunday edition of the Minneapolis/St Paul Star Tribune featured the Art Shanty Projects plus they produced a slick little video (click here) of all the different shanties and activities.

Above is a photograph of David's CineShanty (but which I refer to as a the glass shanty). It is architecturally beautiful. David is one of the two curators (or surveyors) for the projects. In the evenings, he projects a film onto the glass and you can sit back on the ice and watch a movie. Tune into 97.7 (K-ICE) to hear the audio of the movie.

Art Shanty Opening Day

The Art Shanty Projects opening was held on Saturday. It was an amazing day. There was excellent press coverage of the event. Most of the local major network affiliates were present, as well as the Associated Press.

I arrived early with Mike to help set up the Norae Shanty. Once all the gear was checked, we opened the door for those wanting to sing karaoke. It was a huge success and people sang from noon to 10:30 pm.

There were many other amazing art shanties. My favorites include the Rendezvous Cafe (pictured above), the Knitting Shanty, and the Igloo. I will post images of these other shanties in the days to come. Here is a photo of some other shanties, including David's Glass Shanty which wins the best constructed award (if there was such an award).

The turnout was probably around 300 people throughout the day. The young and old were there, as were local neighbors and those from afar. Supporters flew in from Colorado and Ohio. Other drove down from Duluth. Most stayed for hours in the cold, sipping on hot chocolate (and other elixirs) to stay warm and watching the array of entertainers, including Zombies on Ice, Live Action Set, and a Shanty Fashion Show.

I encourage folks to come check out the exhibit on ice on Saturday. You will not be disappointed.

Baritone on Ice :: The Art Shanty Project and Music Lessons

"It has begun..." This was the subject line of Mike's email regarding the upcoming Art Shanty Projects on Medicine Lake in Plymouth, MN. The above photo is a shot of three art shanty's in construction. The exhibit will premiere on the lake on Saturday at 12 noon and run February 19th. If you are in town, be there!

For me, the highlight will be Mike's norae shanty (aka the karaoke ice house). You will find me there often this winter, trying to stay sane during the long cold season (although I must say it has been unseasonably "warm" this winter).

And, I learned this week from two independent sources (Holly and Christopher) that I am a baritone. This was an interesting revelation because I am so unmusical (despite 3 years of minimal effort on the piano as a pre-teen!) and thus quite illiterate in such matters. But I trust my sources given that they are both trained singers/vocalists and outstanding karaoke singers.

What does it mean to be a baritone? Of course, I had to do some "research" on this matter. According to Wikipedia, a baritone (from Greek βαρυτονος 'deeply, heavily sounding') is a male voice of intermediate pitch, between bass and tenor. It is typically written for in the range A one octave and a third below middle C to F above middle C (i.e. A2-F4), though it is often extended at the top.. Dummies.com gives this definition -- The baritone can usually sing from an A (first space bass clef) or F (first space treble clef) below the male High C. The bass-baritone has some height of the baritone and some depth of the bass and his range is usually A-flat (first space bass clef) to F (first space treble clef) and sometimes as high as G below the male High C. The baritone's register transitions usually occur at the A or B just below Middle C and the D or E above Middle C.

Now, given that I am so musically illiterate, these notes really mean very little to me. It is like trying to understand statistics by simply looking at equations. I am a more practical thinker who needs concrete examples to illuminate an idea. Fortunately, Wikipedia lists some well known singers who are baritones. And, as concurrent validity to my friends' assessment of me, there are a number of singers on the list whose songs I sing or at least recognize as singable. For example, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley are all considered baritones (Cash is viewed as a bass-baritone).

My usual karaoke set has included songs that can be sung in this range, such as Born to Run by Springsteen, Sister Christian by Night Ranger, as well as a medley of songs by female singers which I bring down a register or two, such as Beautiful by Christina Aguilera and If I Ain't Got You by Alicia Keys.

Lately, though, I have been practicing some new songs. If you come visit me at the norae shanty, I promise to sing one of them. These songs include Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash, Girlfriend by Matthew Sweet, and Dance Hall Days by Wang Chung.

So come for a music lesson on the lake this Saturday! Until then, I will be practicing my voice and my breathing.

Martin Luther King - 1956 Comic

From Boing Boing, I learned that there is now available online a 1956 comic that portrays the story of Martin Luther King and the Montgomery civil rights protest. You can read the actual comic here thanks to Ethan Persoff.

http://www.ep.tc/mlk/index.html

Six Degrees of Third Space :: Adoptees, Art, and Athletics

This is a rambling story about adoptees, arts, and athletics in the context of the notion of third space. By third space, I am referring to a sense of identity and place where people can intentionally live among similar others and at the same time live in contrast and in reaction to dominant social structures that otherwise marginalize them. For Asian Americans, for example, it is not the same as ethnic enclaves that attempt to recreate the homeland and it is not an effort to mimic or assimilate to the White mainstream culture. Instead, it is a fluid space in which people find common ground with like and not like minded others that defy (or transcends) traditional categories that are used to make people feel like the "other". It is a term used increasingly by ethnic/racial/cultural studies scholars in the humanities (rarely by my colleagues in the behavioral sciences).

Drawing liberally upon this notion of third space, I have come across a number of interesting websites by activists and artists that capture the power of the third space. For example, check out In Third Space which is a new e-magazine for and by transnational adoptees who are coming together to define their own identities and bring voice to their own experiences. Also, check out two emerging Asian American musicians (Kevin So and Jared Rehberg) who are creating their own sound that reflects their lives as complex and layered Asian Americans.

In a bit of six degrees of separation, I learned about In Third Space from my friend, Holly, who happens to be working on a photographic book about Korean adoptees in Minnesota (titled HERE) that I previously had mentioned. Then, I noticed that the website is maintained by Jared Rehberg, a Vietnamese adoptee. I happened to have met Jared a year or so ago when consulting with Also Known As in NYC. Jared's website has a link to Kevin So who is a Boston based singer-songerwriter. It turns out that Kevin is associates with Mary Lou Lord, another singer-songwriter originally from Boston. Now, I used to have a big crush on Mary Lou Lord back in the late 1980s when I was in college and she used to play in the subways of Boston. To bring this story full circle, Mary Lou was mentored by the musician Shawn Colvin whose former home in Austin, TX was purchased by my good friends, Tony and Kelli!

Phew...okay, so back to third spaces...or maybe to athletics...hm...how to tie this all together.

I have lived in Minnepolis since 2000 but it was not really until a couple of years ago that I started to find my social niche in the community. And through these various activities and other assorted outlets (notably my good friend, Ken), I started to play basketball with a group of 30-50 year olds. It turns out that this group started to play basketball together over 20 years ago. Originally, it began as mostly a group of local artists who (defying stereotypes) enjoyed playing ball. Amazingly, through many permutations, this group continues to play weekly.It is still mostly artists tho' a couple of us teacher types have made our way in. I was fortunate to join in this summer, despite my lack of real talent with the ball.

Now, to me, this group reflects a third space of sorts, though perhaps not in the scholarly sense. On any given Tuesday night, we have a photographer, screenwriter, actor, painter, art professor, building contractor, internet marketer/web designer, sociology professor, psychology professor, art gallery owner, poet/playwright, furniture maker, musician, school principal and more come together to play a scrappy game of basketball. We transcend occupation, social class, education, ethnicity, race, and religion and find common ground in athletics but also in humor, intellect, and good spirit. As I have gotten to know many of these fellow ballers, I have learned how much of a support network this group has become for many. It reflects a true sense of social capital in which people go out of their way to help each other out. Many of us live intentionally on the court and off in a fraternal bond that lets people drop pretension and expose honesty and intimacy.

The world is small and it seems that the more you allow the world to enter into your life, the smaller the world becomes. To me, this is a good thing and I am always excited to discover when social circles overlap, entwine, and expand. In defining our identities for ourselves on our own terms, in the context of all the demands put upon us in life, there is freedom in this new space.

A Plug for Kulture Klub

I have to give a quick plug for Kulture Klub which was featured today in the Star Tribune (click here). My good friend, Mike Hoyt, is the director of the nonprofit organization.

What is Kulture Klub?

Kulture Klub Collaborative is an independent nonprofit arts organization that brings together artists and homeless teens at YouthLink/Project OffStreets, a crisis drop-in center- located in downtown Minneapolis. Through workshops, open mics, cultural presentations, and "art views," homeless teens develop their creative expression, receive exposure to artistic excellence, and enter into a group of peers, supportive adults, and diverse social communities. (from their website)

If you are in the giving holiday spirit, consider an end of the year donation to Kulture Klub! Donate here.

Ice Man Cometh

Last Winter, my friend Mike Hoyt, who is a multimedia artist, created this piece as part of the Art Shanty Project on Medicine Lake in Plymouth, MN. Year 2 of the Art Shanty Project will take place this Winter in mid-January. In addition to ice scuptures, Mike has created a Norae Shanty (otherwise known as the Karaoke Ice House) for this new show. I encourage folks to mark it in your calendar and check it out. The Project will run for 5 weeks.

TenChi Taiko of Mu Daiko

Isn't this an amazing photograph? It is an image of the drummers of Mu Daiko - who are based in Minneapolis, MN. The drummers were actually leaping in the air when the photograph was taken (during their fundraiser event in the Summer of 2005). My friend, Holly, is the ethereal spirit on the right. The photograph was taken by professional photographer Marc Norberg who is most known for his photography book "Black and White Blues."

Mu Daiko is performing this weekend at the Southern Theater with special guest, Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble. The shows are sold out but you might be able to buy tickets at the door. Performances are Fri. & Sat. at 8pm, Sun. at 2pm.

Fearless Filmmakers Screening Tonight!

On Tuesday nights, I play basketball with a ragtag group of artists and like minded folks who have been playing together in various groupings for over 20 years. One of these ballers, Ted Hall, is an aspiring independent filmmaker and his newest short film (Organized Crime) will be playing tonight as part of the 2005 Fearless Filmmakers Screening Event. It will take place at 7 pm at the Riverview Theater. There will be an afterparty at Nochee, located at 500 Washington Ave South, Mpls 55454.

Come check out the show! It should be a great night.

ORGANIZED CRIME
Written by Ted Hall and Directed by Sandra K. Horner

Logline: There's a way to do a job and a way to get a job done. Running Time: 15 min.

Writer/Actor Bio: Ted Hall, who plays "Lenny" in Organized Crime, has performed in more than twenty independent films. He often portrays intensely driven characters who struggle with relationships, money and a range of personal problems. This feels very natural to him. He wrote Organized Crime while in the midst of relationship madness during a frigid Minnesota February.

Items of Note: There was much coffee. Our gangsta car refused to start the fourth day of shooting.

Movers and Shakers

Came across Asian Social Network, which is a website that aims to promote social, charitable, and community-related activities within the Asian American community across a variety of states. I had not heard of it before but it seems like an up and coming site. You can check out calendar events by state, though not much is listed for Minnesota.

They also have a section called "Movers and Shakers" and it just so happens that my friends, Holly and Kim, are featured right now because of their very cool book project, entitled HERE, a portrait book of Korean adoptees living in Minnesota.

Voter #272, Gambling, and Patriotism

Note. This entry has been edited (slightly) since its original posting

It's election day, although many people may be unaware of it. As an off-year election, there are not many big state or national races today. Living in Mpls, we have a mayoral election, a city council seat open, and a park board seat open (and some other smaller races). I was voter #272 in my district.

To find out where to vote or whom to vote for, check out the Star Tribune Politics section which allows you to find your voting precinct and find out a bit more about the candidates.

In my opinion, the most important vote is for the city council seat because Mpls has a relatively weak mayoral system in which the city council holds more legislative and administrative power than the mayor. In addition, the two mayoral candidates are not very different, given their party affiliation is the same (DFL) and their platforms are very similar (better schools, less crime, more police).

Need another reason to vote? How about equating voting with gambling? A few weeks ago, we had a big PowerBall lottery worth nearly $300 million, if I remember correctly. I confess to having bought $4 worth of tickets, winning absolutely nothing like most people. If you love to gamble and to win, then vote. This year is a good time to vote because it is an off-year election (no gubernatorial or presidential election). Not as many people will vote, so you will increase your odds of picking a winning candidate. I know, silly logic, but just trying to find more ways to inspire folks to vote and to make a difference in their local communities.

On an arts-related note about politics, there is a new multimedia play at the Varsity Theater in Dinkytown called Patriot Acts.

What is patriotism? What role with art play in the "war against terrorism"? What role does race, culture, and class play? What is an American? How do we engage in an international dialogue? What does freedom feel like? What does it mean? What Acts of Patriotism can you implement on a day-to-day basis? Canvassing an international array of artists' voices, LP: Patriot Acts uses one on one interviews, video, performance, song, spoken word, storytelling, visual arts, photography, music, and movement. Curators e.g. bailey and Sha Cage, in partnership with some of the most prolific artists from the UK, the USA, and France, challenge, anger, humor, and above all provoke in this revealing work of new theater.

My good friends, Ken and Me-K, have a great video piece in Patriot Acts. I plan to check out the show on Wednesday night. It only plays till Wednesday, so go today or tomorrow!

Build Me Up, Buttercup!

Here is my latest purchase. I am so happy with it. It is a BluDot Buttercup chair that I recently purchased directly from BluDot, which is a local furniture design company. It is not my first BluDot purchase, but it is my most pleasing one. I first coveted the chair a year or so ago when I saw it for sale at a local store - RedLureRed - in Uptown. Then, a few weeks ago, I went to the BluDot 2nd Sale which is a once a year warehouse sale of refurbished, returned, and slightly damaged furnishings. I saw the chair for sale and immediately bought it for half the original price! I was so happy. Sadly, I went home to assemble the chair to the base and I noticed it was damaged on the seat. I didn't notice it initially because it was wrapped up and boxed. Fortunately, I was able to return the chair for a full refund. Still, I was disappointed. Then, as I was leaving, I was offered the chair for essentially the same sale price but brand new. However, I would have to wait a few weeks for a new shipment to arrive. Lucky for me, the shipment arrived early and I am now the proud owner of the chair. It is a surprisingly comfortable