Digital Salute

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A Tibetan Monk was the second-to-last person to sit opposite Marina Abramovic as part of “The Artist is Present.” A friend from high school named Bonnie Rose had joined me, and we returned to the exhibit which was now packed. I tried to see Marina and the Tibetan Monk by jumping up to see over all the heads. I discovered I got a decent view when I stood on my camping stool. Brian wanted to see the final moments of the performance so I let him stand on the stool. When the last person walked off the exhibit floor leaving Marina alone, the audience burst into applause. Marina then started shaking hands of people who surrounded her. Everyone in the room seemed to have an iPhone, digital camera or video camera and they all raised them over their heads to take photos. To me it was an iconic sight, a sort of digital salute with all the cameras offering validation and acknowledgment that an important moment was happening.

Actress Liv Tyler pushed through the crowd with her entourage past us. Suddenly, Brian came crashing down from the camping stool I have used for years. It had had enough and ripped wide open. I asked if he could get up and he was stuck. I grabbed him under his right arm an lifted him up. I was surprised by how light he is. The room was still filled with thunderous applause. The guards were creating a break in the crowd right in front of us so Marina could be ushered out. Brian yelled out that I should get one of my sketches signed by Marina. I scrambled around looking for a pen and had just gotten ready when she passed in front of us. Her attention was diverted by some of her friends opposite us so she never noticed the sketch. I had arrived in NYC at 7:30 or so in the morning and I was flying out late that night. It was a whirlwind day that I will never forget. Next to us was a sign that read: “Today is the final day of the exhibition, “Marina Abromovic: The Artist is Present.”

The Artist is Present

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As Brian Feldman got closer to the front of the line at MoMA‘s “The Artist is Present” exhibition, it was getting near the end of the day. Several times he walked out of the room and I feared that he might have given up or changed his mind. Instead, he was charging his iPhone so he could continue to text updates to people following his progress. When Brian was on deck, the next person to go on the floor, a guard stood next to him talking for some time. From my perch at a third floor window overlooking the room, I couldn’t hear what was being said. Later, Brian told me that the guard had reservations about letting Brian sit opposite Marina Abramovic in his white robe. He feared Brian might be planning something disruptive.


I worked on this sketch for over an hour before Brian sat down. I simply left the seat empty where Brian would sit until he was finally in place. Since I was in a black suit, some people may have thought I was a guard; I was asked more than a few times about the event and was happy to answer questions. A small group of people clustered around the window I was drawing from, and wanted to know all about Brian. I couldn’t help but offer some background on this amazingly charged clash of titans.


From the moment Brian sat down, he said he felt Marina was in total control. Towards the middle of their time together, Marina placed her hand to her chest and gasped lightly. Then, she once again regained composure and remained in control. When Brian walked away, Marina leaned forward and wiped her eyes with the palms of her hands. After it all was over, MoMA visitors stopped Brian and asked him questions as he walked around the museum. He said that he was ready to stare at Marina all day, but was still grateful for the brief moment he had been granted. I think this trip to NYC made a major impression on Brian. Walking the streets afterward, he was carefree and lighthearted. I have never seen him so happy.

Brian Waits

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Brian Feldman had a dream. He shared it with me months ago at a Toast to Elizabeth Maupin at the Repertory Theater in Orlando Loch Haven Park. He told me that he wanted to sit opposite Marina Abramovic, the world’s greatest living performance artist, who was having a retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) called “The Artist is Present.” On top of it all, Brian wanted me to join him on the quest knowing I would get a great sketch. The MoMA exhibition consisted of Marina sitting in the center of the atrium with spectators having the ability to sit opposite her and look into her eyes for as long as they could last, as an exercise in being present in the moment with another person. Brian wanted to camp out overnight outside the museum on the final day of the exhibit to be first in line to sit opposite Marina and then he hoped to sit opposite her for seven straight hours. Brian raised money to get himself to NYC through donations at his parallel performance “The Staring Contest.” One person was generous enough to actually give Brian their Delta Sky Miles. The dream was now a reality. Marina had been performing “The Artist is Present” for two and a half straight months and Brian was determined to be there on the final day, May 31st.

The day started with surprises. Upon his arrival to MoMA, Brian found out that they were allowing people to sit opposite Marina for only 10 minutes. Though disappointed, he kept moving forward rather than turning back. Though he camped outside the museum, there were 29 people who were in front of him in a line that inched forward in agonizingly slow increments. There was no guarantee that Brian would even get the chance he had planned and trained for over many months.The exhibit drew people from all over and there were many who waited patiently along with Brian for their chance to be present with Marina. Photographer Marco Anelli took photos of every person who sat opposite Marina. Shortly after the exhibit opened, a young woman in a one piece dress approached Marina and before she sat down, whipped the dress up over her head and stood naked for a split second in the center of the crowded room. Guards rushed around her and shielded the audience from getting a clear view of the woman. Crying, she was led away. As the pandemonium died down, he glanced over at me and raised his hands and shoulders in a gesture that said, “What the …?” Brian regained his focus and waited for his chance to face Marina.

Beauty

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The Premiere Orlando International Beauty Event was a huge event held at the Orange County Convention Center. Sultana gave me a thick book which showcased all the vendors and offered a fold out floor plan that showed the locations of the hundreds of vendors. Just walking the showroom floor offered constant visual stimulation. Every vendor was doing whatever they could to get viewers attention. I finally realized that I just needed to sit front and center at any booth and I could sketch the many models who were there. These two models sporting Alice in Wonderland outfits stayed fairly still. Once a photographer stepped in however they would vogue and pose looking down at the photographer with a highbrow disdain. I liked that the mad hatter had on a shoulder harness made from spools of thread. That was a nice creative touch.
Next to the models, a hair stylist was busy cutting and styling another models hair. I had just blocked in the sketch when the hair stylist told the models that they could take a lunch break. I calmly closed my sketchbook and then got up to sketch somewhere else on the showroom floor. Several hours later when the sketch was finished, I returned to the Salon Tech Booth and the same two models were back at work. I sat front and center and got back to work. Lee Ann McCall a national sales manager for Salon Tech came over to see what I was working on. She seemed sincerely surprised and delighted by the sketch.
Unfortunately, a cough I had caught flying out of NYC started to take hold in my chest. I had a press pass that would have allowed me to return to the event for several more days. The sketching opportunities were limitless, but the next day I was flat on my back in bed for much needed rest and relaxation.

Premiere Orlando International Beauty Event

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Sultana Ali who was working at the information booth at this event was kind enough to get me a press pass so I could wander the Convention Center at will. She showed me around the show floor pointing out various sketch opportunities. I shouted out, “Everyone here is a model. how can I go wrong!” After she went back to work, I settled in and started sketching.

The first booth I stopped at was Farouk Systems. The product they seemed to be showcasing was a special hair spray. The two hair stylists circled a model seated in a barbers chair. They both kept spraying the models hair until he was lost in the mist filled cloud they had created. They both teased and snipped the hair while talking incessantly. It seems this product is targeted for a Hispanic market. Between hair cuts, the stylists would shout out to the crowd, “Who wants some free stuff!?” “I can’t hear you!”

The models hair was multi-colored. The stylist demonstrated how to cut a perfectly straight edge between hair colors. Fashion models would strut up and down the runway and cameras would start flashing.

The convention floor was packed. Who knew that so many people would want to attend a conference devoted to beauty products? This sketch was a real challenge since there was a nonstop flow of humanity between me and the booth I was trying to draw. When I finished this drawing I felt I was capable of drawing anything. Drawing the stylists proved a challenge since they moved with amazing speed. His hands moved so fast they would show up on film as blurs. At the front of the stage there was a huge assortment of lotions, creams and sprays. They all seemed to sport the same orange label.

I continued to walk the show floor but I am sure I only saw a fraction of the vendors. Events like this are for me exhausting since I am always changing direction to avoid people who stop in the isles. It is like running an obstacle course all day long.

sleepwalk 2: i walk over you

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The week Winter Park hosted the 51st Annual Sidewalk Art Festival, Katie Windish of Frames Forever & Art Gallery hosted the 2nd Annual Outsider Art Fair in the parking lot of her framing shop. I like the sound of being an outsider, so I agreed to exhibit a bunch of my prints from sketches done around town. Doug Rhodehamel also was going to be there making paper bag mushrooms and this was going to be an opportunity for me to get a sketch of him at work.
I got to the Outsider Art Fair a little late and found I had to squeeze in to make some space for my work. I had just exhibited my work in theTheDailyCity.com Mobile Art Show and so I had a pile of prints which had been used to wallpaper the entire inside of the truck. I simply threw the pile of prints down on the pavement and let people who were interested flip through. I think I sold just 2 prints that day but I got to meet so many great artists. Tracy Burke was working on a large portrait of Pete Townsend in bold black and white brush work with just a touch of warmth added for the flesh tones. I was impressed by her work, yet didn’t interrupt her to talk. I have bumped into her several times since and I keep trying to arrange to try and sketch her at work.
Towards the end of the day, I finally went up to the front of the shop to see Brian Feldman’s performance called “sleepwalk 2: i walk over you.” I set up across the street and watched Brian as he stumbled back and forth on the scaffolding that was set up in front of the shop. With the original “sleepwalk,” Brian slept for 50 straight hours while people were allowed to walk over him. This time, the bystanders were under the scaffolding while Brian sleepwalked above them for 8 hours. A small sign read, Shout out, “Why don’t you get a room?” A mother encouraged her little girl to shout this up to Brian in order to get a 1 inch button. He had a face mask on and thus really couldn’t see where he was going. The metal railings were the only thing keeping him from falling to the ground.

Beyond Beat – David Amram

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David Amram returned to Orlando to be a part of, “The Turning Point, a Symposium on Jack Kerouac in Florida.” This multi day event took place at different locations around Orlando like, The Grand Bohemian, the Kerouac House, and as pictured here , the White House. The wite house was built by the music director for Circue Sole and he opens his living room each month so people can listen to talented musicians for free.
David played piano as authors got up on stage and read from excerpts from Jack Kerouac books. The performances ere part jazz and part smooth unexpected improvisation that flowed with the words lifting the spoken words to a heightened meaning. A drawing hung on the wall behind Dave as he performed playing a Peruvian wooden flute. Jack though always vibrant seems to always have a sad searching gaze. I had to keep drawing Kerouac even thought he was located behind the spot where Amram was standing. I enjoyed watching the painter on stage as she worked on a painting of Kerouac for the duration of the set.
I feel Kerouac would have likes this event. He would have jumped up on stage with the rest of the authors and shouted his words out to the waiting audience slipping his syntax to the slippery beat.

Fringe Line

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Just standing in line for a Fringe show is an adventure in itself. As usual at leas half of the people were fingering their cell phones sending texts or checking Facebook statuses. Many of the people in line were also actors which can be surmised from their feather boas and loud Hawaiian shirts. Well, I also saw them perform later that evening. One of the young astronautics from “Cat Women on the Moon” dances up and down the line in slow motion as if weightless. He handed out Cat Women on the Moon fliers to anyone who would take one.
Before I was fully finished of course everyone filed into the theater. After I finished up enough washes, I followed them in. This twenty first Century digital age moves a touch too fast for me to be sketching it using methods used back in the Renaissance. The only way to keep up is to ignore the final polished look of things and just let go and get sloppy!

Gatorland

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Terry arranged a tour with the Audubon Society to see the nesting birds in the sanctuary behind Gatorland. The tour guide who was the grandson of the founder of the place kept up a constant banter. He also kept the group constantly on the move. I finally escaped the tour and settled in to sketch this white gator. It turns out a white gator would never survive in the wild and the two gators in this compound were found together and saved when they first hatched. Sea World kept them hidden away from the public for years until they felt they were large enough for their Giant White Gator marketing campaign.
Drawing a white gator is a little easier than drawing a regular gator since all the ridges and wrinkles are easily visible. I was of course in a rush since every line I put down meant I was falling that much further behind the tour. As I was working a thunderstorm rolled in. there were loud claps of thunder and illuminating blasts of light. In the lagoon outside the larger gators rose to the surface and started to let out an unearthly bellowing noise. Pairs of gators would bellow and roll in the water. Perhaps it is some sort of rain appreciations dance. Regardless it felt like I was back in the age of the dinosaurs.
Gator land is someplace I should really look into sketching at more often. It is a real Florida treasure right in my backyard.

Insurance

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Dealing with insurance sucks. I was rear ended about a month ago as I coasted to a stop for a stop light at 436 after getting off the East-West. The fellow that hit me was in a rush to get to the airport so He didn’t call police. My cell battery was dead. When I got to work I discovered that I wasn’t even scheduled to work that day. Someone had forgotten to tell me. This always happens to me somehow I end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. It has taken a solid month of talking to claims adjusters to finally settle the matter. The damage to my truck was light. I managed to fix the bumper with some duck tape and a couple of new bolts. The other truck blew out a head lamp and lost its front bumper. On top of everything I caught a cold and fever flying out of NYC. I need a travel sized hand sanitizer.