SWAYZE

This sticker popped up on a One Way sign in downtown Seattle. (2nd and Stewart to be exact.) Thought it was swell.

101 uses for gaffers tape

101 uses for gaffers tape, originally uploaded by jwlphotography.

Photographer Jason Lee has a wonderful set of photos featuring his two daughters up on Flickr. You definitely need to check it out.

The Bad Picture Afterlife

Deletedimages.com is a website dedicated to letting “bad” photos see the light of day. In this age of digital everything it’s way too easy to delete the blurry, moving, shaky, or otherwise undesireable photos off your digital camera without a second thought. This website does an excellent job of showing that your best pictures might be those accidental shots if you take the time to actually look at them.

Where’s Your Art Spokane?

Subpar wants to know, we want to attend your gallery openings. We want to see your paintings, we want to get involved, but we can’t unless you let us know.

We know your reading us, we see you lurking, don’t try to hide it, we can only listen to NPR so many hours out of the day. We can only read that creepy spokanearts.org page, the one with the big-screamy-mouth, yeah we can only read that so many times a day.

Help us, help you.

Mid Century Modern Stickers, Labels & Stamps

Found this great flickr pool the other day and thought I’d share. I am a big fan of Mid Centruy Modern design, in particular Russian Propaganda from WW2 and beyond, and this collection really excited me. It’s exactly that amd more… mid century modern stickers, labels and stamps from the 1950s – 1970s. Some really interesting and amazing things CHECK IT OUT.

God’s Eye View

Creative Review posted a selection of works of the Sydney-based “creative collective” The Glue Society. Commissioned by Eric Romano of Pulse Art it was created for its Miami Art Fair. I really like all these pieces, very elegant and such a different view of religious imagery than what we normally see. I LOVE the installation. You can check out more of the works HERE.

Having a show? Let us know.

I didn’t mean for the title to rhyme. But it does, I refuse to change it, and now we must live with the cheesiness of it.

We can only do so much here at subpar, and we want to do so much more. We need you essentially, if you have a gallery opening, an art show, or anything remotely similar let us know. We’ll post it, get it out for all to see and maybe even show up ourselves. Just email myself or any other contributor at subpar@subpar.net we’ll do our best to let the world, or our little chunk of it, know.

Gallery: Sticks and Stones

There is a gallery opening tonight at Whitworth at the Koehler Gallery for an installation exhibit for Meagan Stirling and Jonathan Chamberlain called Stick’s and Stones. The opening begins at 5 p.m. with a lecture from at artists at 7 p.m. – entrance is free. If you are looking to get your art on and are willing to brave the storms this should be a good show.

From the Official Press Release:

Whitworth will present an art exhibit, “Sticks and Stones,” Jan. 7-Feb. 1, featuring the works of Meagan Stirling, ‘02, and Jonathan Chamberlain, both art lecturers at the university. “Sticks and Stones” is a collaborative installation that explores the creation and destruction of language and the effect context has in the particular interpretation of a word. The participation and investigation of language, monitoring preference, and documentation are communicated through this time-based exhibit.

More can be found HERE

Spokane Art School Forced to Sell Building

Via the Spokesmanreview, the Spokane Art School has decided the best way to solve their financial issues is to sell the building they’ve called home since 1984. The school is not closing but has decided they can’t afford to keep running things the way they have been and are looking for more creative ways to spread an appreciation of the arts to our city.

Is this a big deal? Karen Mobley, the city of Spokane’s Arts Director, mentions this is something most organizations in the city have gone through recently. It reminds me of a few years back when Centerstage almost closed and the persistent life support rumors about area theater groups.

It’s tough to be an arts organization in this city, but why? Is there too little support or too many organizations to be supported by a community of our size? From what I know of other metro areas of 1/2 million residents I would say Spokane stacks up pretty well in the arts department. A professional symphony, jazz orchestra, several theater groups, a decent museum (or two), close to a dozen art galleries downtown, and other organizations like Centerstage and the Spokane Art School keep things from getting too stale. I also think we could support more.

I do not agree with arts organizations who think they should be supported “because we’re about art”. I agree art is important but I also believe it’s the responsibility of the arts organizations themselves to craft a responsible budget, use advertising effectively, and present a compelling artistic product that stirs interest and discussion in the community. Maybe that’s a lot to ask but I think it’s attainable.

the birth of subpar

I founded subpar when I was in college as a creative contingent (The fancy buzzword for a designer club.) Maybe it’s the genuine collegiate experience but going to a tiny northwest school I saw a lack of serious peer critiques and that really frustrated me. I got fed up. I remember forgetting to do an assignment, showing up ten minutes before class and banging out trite crap and receiving general words of praise for my “flowing style” and my “freedom of expression.” This wasn’t the words I craved, nor the opinions I needed but it as the norm.

More After The Jump.