Author: Kathy Nida

artist, teacher, furry beast manager

Fed

On Saturday, the girlchild and I participated in an exhibit/performance art event called Feeder. There was a wide variety of art there, from photographs to collages, to paintings and an assemblage, to one of my quilts. There were a few artists in the group who didn’t bring art, but just fed people, and a few artists who brought art, but didn’t feed people. The artists were wearing aprons, which was interesting, because one man walked purposefully up to me and said “You’re wearing an apron. I would like to be fed.” Well then. That’s why we’re here.

(my quilt Feeding Time and Terri Hughes-Oelrich’s piece How Many Licks)

I wrote about the purpose of the exhibit a few posts back, so I won’t repeat it, but I will talk about what it was really like.

It was funny. It was strange. It was cool.

(Susan Myrland’s photos of her mom and Daphne Hill’s paintings of jello molds with Aspergillus)

It really was in a garage.

The girlchild had a hard time with her hand shaking on final entry (so sorry to the nice woman who had to be wiped down afterwards). Then again, she might have been the only female with an apron on who didn’t have years of experience feeding people.

(Lauren Carrera’s paintings about fish and an assemblage, also about a fish…I forgot to note the titles because I am lame. Plus another painting by Jeanne Dunn, which is part of her Bread and Cie series.)

She did really well, then, didn’t she? Girlchild, that is.

(A closeup of Terri Hughes-Oelrich’s piece)

The food ranged from our two soups, a leek/carrot/parsnip combo and a pea soup, to a dump cake, some cupcakes, polenta, mac n cheese, vegie sushi, apples with honey, crackers and cheese, cream of wheat, and chocolate pudding.

Like any normal art opening, we had a variety of drinks, alcoholic and otherwise.

Friends and strangers arrived, checked out the art, and were fed. By the end of the 2-hour event (plus the hour of setup beforehand), we were exhausted.

But it was cool.

I kept asking if they wanted more, like I was mom asking the kid. One artist had those who wanted to be fed sit down on a stool, and she fed them like she was giving them medicine.

Speaking of medicine, one artist had an airplane that attached to a spoon, and she was feeding people spoonfuls of whiskey.

I had good conversations with people about feeding and being fed and the art as well.

(Girlchild being fed apple with honey…this event was heaven for a kid who loves to cook and prepare food.)

I realized a few things:

1. I fed more men than women. They seemed quite happy to be fed.

(Susan kept giving the girlchild instructions…so did Julie, but I didn’t get a good picture of her…thanks to my friends for showing up and being familiar faces and guinea pigs)

2. Everyone kept touching my quilt. I’m so used to quilt shows where everyone (almost) knows better that I didn’t think to post a sign saying STOP. But it’s interesting, because no one would have touched the photographs next to mine. I don’t think they would have touched the paintings. Textile is tactile. I need to figure that out if I’m going to keep exhibiting with other non-fiber artists.

(I never got closeup pictures of the collages by Moya Devine, plus Anna Stump had a written comment and a nailed wooden spoon on the other side of the garage…and she may win best-costume award…either that or Leah Younker as an Alzheimer’s patient in pink velour and gray wig)

3. Two of the artists in this group, which I have only really recently joined, have been reviewed on this blog before: Terri Hughes-Oelrich’s Oil Well Project was at ArtProduce and I reviewed it here in December of 2011, and Lauren Carrera, whose work I had seen twice at South Park Walkabouts; I blogged about one exhibit here. So that was weird. Or fate. Whatever.

All in all, people got fed, people saw art, people laughed, and people had food spilled on them. It was no different than any family party I’ve been to in the past. I’m looking forward to working with this group of women in the future, and I’m glad the girlchild had a positive performance art experience for her first time. Hopefully we haven’t scared her off.

Feeder

Last year, I was looking for other groups where maybe my quilts wouldn’t cause people to call Fox News and report my work as disturbing the peace. I found a group called FIG, the Feminist Image Group, formed in 2009. FIG is a coalition of visual artists who meet to discuss art, see exhibitions, and support one another in their careers. They work across many media, including drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, installation, digital media and performance (I’m going to need to encourage them to add fiber/textiles to the description).

As artists, they are concerned with how women continue to be portrayed in the art world. As teachers and feminists, they encourage their students and colleagues to be alert to sexism in its many forms. As friends, they aid each other in their creative and curatorial endeavors. FIG promotes an inclusive worldview that allows all voices.

I contacted the leader of the group last year and she invited me to join, but I couldn’t make a meeting until a few weeks ago (and I had to scramble to do that, since the girlchild had soccer and I had to make dinner and get it into the oven before I left, and then the girlchild called because her dad hadn’t picked her up, blah blah blah).

One of the reasons I joined was to find more art-related venues and exhibits in town, rather than just art QUILT-related shows, and that is working because I have one I’m working on for early June (which I panicked about last night and finally started drawing) and one next weekend. Next weekend is more of a performance piece, which I did do in college, so it’s not a new experience, but the girlchild has expressed interest in being involved, so that IS new. The performance and installation are called Feeder…

You should bring an empty stomach and an open mind. The opening reception is next Saturday, April 14, from 6-8 PM at Garage 4141, 4141 Alabama St., North Park, San Diego. Yes, this is some guy’s garage. In fact, it’s Larry’s garage. You can read about Larry Caveney and his art garage here.

The premise behind the garage event is that women are care-givers. Mothers, daughters, sisters, wives–we do the bulk of caring for others. We often look after the young, the sick, the elderly and the helpless. This performance celebrates nurturers, and explores notions of dependence, intimacy, sensuality and privacy in the act of nurturing. It recalls being fed as children, and uncomfortably harkens to a future when we may be spoon-fed as elders.

Feeder is a Relational Aesthetics performance work and installation in which FIG members serve food to guests and each other at the opening event. The performance develops out of the relationship between people in the intimate act of serving and eating. Wall pieces will also explore the idea of nurturing through food. It is free and open to the public.

The Art Produce Gallery will also be running a related exhibit that opens that weekend, eat here now, with a reception from 6-9, located at 3139 University Avenue (just down the road from Ray Street, which will be running Ray at Night that weekend as well). So you can come to all these things and feel artful for a night (which is sometimes difficult in San Diego). Plus you will get fed. There will be photos, paintings, and one of my textile pieces. And I still need an apron. I can’t believe with all the women I know that none of them have a nice vintage apron. So I’m thriftshopping it later today. First I have to get the girlchild up and to the gym. That is a feat unto itself.