New Oregon Arts & Letters (formerly 2GQ)

WRITER & ARTIST RESIDENCIES

by Tiffany Lee Brown

There's nothing to refresh the soul like an artist or writer residency. In the Northwest, residencies at Soapstone, Hypatia, and Caldera plucked me out of everyday life and into nature. They offered silence and solitude. Most importantly, they reminded me why I do the work: I do the work *to do the work.*

Living in a lull, a bubble in the woods, I am responsible to no one except myself. I'm not thinking about how to pay the rent or whether I should hire a videographer to properly document my next performance so I can try to get another grant someday. I'm not scrambling to doctor appointments and art events. I'm not on the freakin' Internet all day. 

I'm just being. I'm walking. I'm feeling the rain on my neck. I'm building fires to keep myself warm. I'm writing, writing, writing... making, making, making... I'm sleeping, too. I'm having afternoon tea and playing solitaire. It's bliss. Productive, amazing bliss.

IS WRITING EXPLOITATION?

Writers write about the world around them. Does that make them abusive?

And do they owe royalties to everything and everyone who sparks their creative work?

These were among the questions explored during author Peter Rock's appearance at Powell's City of Books in downtown Portland this week. His new book, My Abandonment, was loosely inspired by a local news story. And some of the resulting conversation pissed off 2GQ's roving reporter, Kristy Athens.

"Why the fuck can't we do architecture in Portland if they can do it in Switzerland?"

Last Friday, Portlanders met for dinner and conversation at the University of Oregon's working architecture studios in the White Stag building for the latest installation of the back room.

Matthew Stadler, who has returned from Mexico and resumed his role as organizer and host of the series, introduced the modulated guitar noise of Dragging An Ox Through Water and the evening's interviewees, Tom Kundig and Brad Cloepfil. Guests supped on delicious dishes from chickpeas to paté created by chef Jason Barwikowski of Clyde Common, and tore hunks of bread off paper-wrapped loaves from Pearl Bakery.

BABIES GOT RABIES + PASCHAL COEUR

Bars don't have that blue smoke hanging in the air anymore, but Dunes has apparently decided to remedy this with a smoke machine mounted on the ceiling, which I thought was sort of funny, as if we all need the illusion of a smoky bar even if it isn't actually smoky anymore.  It did make a pretty little glow out of the video installation backing Paschal Coeur and Babies Got Rabies.  Babies came out rocking, a departure from their normal, more introspective, synth-heavy Talking Heads meets Joy Division sort of sound.  Frontman Tim John O'Brien showed up with a considerable presence, a little moody and a little bit pop, like a latter-day Serge Gainsbourg.  Danielle Fish's voice had a lot of angsty sincerity in her Paschal set which was unfortunately buried in her backing vocals for Babies.  The finest song without a doubt was "Burning Things Fall," delivered here with a caustic, driving backbeat and O'Brien's husky, detached baritone.

They have another show coming up at the new Satyricon on Tuesday, March 10th, opening with Paschal Coeur again and also Perspective on Energy + Andrew Cecka.  Looking forward to seeing what rock-electro balance they work out.

---Nora Robertson

AMONG THE PINK ELEPHANTS AT MILEPOST 5

TJ Norris's Pink Elephant art swap got huge this year. Previously held at New American Art Union, with a snug group of visual artists exchanging unsold "white elephant" pieces they'd recently made, the event took place at Milepost 5 last night, and the public were invited to browse the art this time. Fun stuff! A few standouts were Jim Lommasson's photograph from the Katrina aftermath, depicting cassette tapes in mud; Sarah Gottesdiener's faux-naif rendering of the Artist Currently Known as Prince; and a subtle, intriguing little painting, tucked modestly into its oversized frame, painted by Gabriel Liston. Stephen Hayes went all-out, offering a stunning, textural portfolio of prints.

MIKE BROPHY: LARGE, PERNICIOUS WEEDS

Artist Michael Brophy spoke at Portland State University yesterday evening to a packed house. Here's what I heard, once somebody unlocked the doors so Emily and I could sneak into the lecture:

Brophy on how early Oregonian settlers viewed the gigantic trees that used to cover our land: "Large, pernicious weeds."

On his portraits of clearcuts and stumps: "I imagined the landscape as a character that had agency."

On his move into abstraction: "I just wanted to use a really fat brush."

On people: "I think we're integrated into the landscape, as humans, and we always have been."