I arrived at Frames Forever & Art Gallery 941 Orange Avenue Winter Park, to find a small crowd seated in front of a glass storefront window watching as Brian Feldman read the Orlando Weekly in its entirety. He not only read the body copy but also the ads, captions and he would even describe any pictures and art. Three of the people were from the Orlando Weekly Newspaper and they sat and watched for over an hour. Brian spoke into a microphone and the sound mixer Tommy Wingo (in the yellow shirt) supervised as Brian’s voice was amplified crisply on two speakers outside.
The performance commemorates WMFE’s canceling of their newspaper-reading service for the blind on its station due to funding issues.
The store window was masterfully decorated with the current issue of the Orlando Weekly taped up behind Brian and even strewn about on the floor. A classy Greek column was on hand where Brian perched a cup of water for his parched voice. One audience member tapped furiously on his laptop computer and others occasionally texted friends on iPhones. Some people had the newspaper and read along tracking Brian’s progress. The owner of Frames Forever & Art Gallery, Katie Windish, was tweeting about the event to about a thousand people on Brian’s behalf. Katie was also the one who tailored the classy vest Brian was wearing which was also made of newspaper. She confessed that the vest was made from another local rag called the Orlando Sentinel.
The drive home from this event was quite eventful, While driving through Parramore, I was pulled over by a patrol car. “Can I see your License and Registration”, blinking lights, and a flood light in my rear view mirror, the whole deal. After waiting 15 minutes while he looked up my long criminal record he came back and informed me my left brake light was out. He asked if I knew about that, and I did, but I said “no officer”. He said he could give me a $96 ticket for that but he would let me go with a warning this time…
The End of Analog
We interrupt today’s blog post to bring an important announcement: Analog TV is ending TODAY. At 3 AM in the morning I sat with Brian Feldman waiting for the end of Analog TV as we know it. There are an estimated 20 million TVs that use rabbit ears to pick up analog TV via the airwaves. Brian joked that the best place to watch this conversion to digital would be in the retirement villages of South Florida. I can imagine the panic caused as hundreds of TVs flicker to static, people are screaming in the streets and TVs being thrown out windows. The Digital conversion is not happening all at once but each station is switching over sometime today. You have been warned. Every station seemed to have a banner scrolling warning viewers about the conversion.
Brian sat eating some tomato soup straight out of the can and texting or tweeting on his iPhone. A police car drove by and a block later turned around to pass by a second time. He stopped rolled down the window and stared. I tensed up waiting for what might happen next. He just watched the TVs for a few minutes and then rolled up beside me to see what I was up to and then drove off without saying a word.
If you wish to watch in horror as TV signals are lost go to Frames Forever and Art Gallery 941 Orange Avenue in Winter Park 407 622-6358. The installation remains in place till midnight tonight.
The Ring
Months ago I lost my wedding ring. I noticed it was missing while I was making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Earlier that day, I had been fiddling with the ring, pushing it up past the knuckle and spinning it while I waited for a computer anti virus program to finish its work. The ring had to be between the computer room and the kitchen and I searched for it relentlessly.
The day I lost the ring the financial markets began to collapse. I am certain that these two events at linked. If I could find the ring then the markets might stabilize. At various festivals I had tried on mood rings and artsy wood and silver rings but none fit. Also Terry didn’t approve of my choices.
I decided for Terry’s birthday to finally go to P.J. Abramson, Inc. a good jewelry store in Winter Park and get a traditional gold band. The first ring the sales lady showed me was 24 carrot gold and it cost $2000. I almost had a heart attack, thank god it didn’t fit. The second ring was a bit more reasonable and it slipped right on, a perfect fit. After the purchase I explained that I would like to sketch the store. The manager was concerned that I might sketch the security system but reluctantly let me proceed. Notice no video cameras or even wires were drawn in the making of this picture.
Sleepwalk
Brian Feldman has devised another amazing performance piece. He plans to sleep for 50 hours while allowing people to walk over him. He is sleeping in a wooden box built with two by fours outside on the sidewalk . On top is a black metal grid and then a sheet of Plexiglas so people who walk over can get a good view of Brian sleeping. When I got to the site I really didn’t know how I would get a drawing. You can not really see Brian from the street or sidewalk. Only when You walk over him do you get a full view. I finally decided the only option was to walk right on top of Brian, sit down on my stool and sketch him from that vantage point. It was rather like sketching a corpse at a wake while sitting on the coffin. Two young women stopped by and wanted to walk over Brian. I got out of the way, and they started across. They hesitated however and asked, “He won’t peek will he?” They were concerned because they had dressed on. Brain however was wearing a mask, perhaps for exactly that reason. When they left I climbed back up and resumed my sketch.
A student from Valencia College named Dariel wandered by and we both recognized each other. He is a young tan fellow who could well be a surfer. During my visit at Valencia he really seemed to get the point I was stressing, which was to get out in the community and take art and academics outside the classroom. He related a story about a character he met who he thought was homeless who was taking pictures of graffiti. This fellow was actually an artist from Jamaica who was traveling the world on the cheap. The fact that he related this story was a real highlight for me. That meant he understood the idea of art as an adventure.
Feldman’s performance makes me wonder, am I truly living everyday fully? Am I fully awake? Do I let people walk over me? Brian will continue to sleep till 6PM on March 22nd. So if you want to walk over him, go to Frames Forever & Art Gallery at 941 Orange Avenue, Winter Park, FL. It is a half mile from the Winter Park Art Festival.