artprize 2011

Andy and I went to check out ArtPrize this weekend--or at least, the offerings on show at the Urban Institute of Contemporary Arts.  Above is Chin Wang's CW, which I was immediately drawn to since I'm so obsessed right now with the Game of Thrones books.  The bears naturally make me think of House Mormont, but I'm afraid the bridge looks like the sigil for nasty House Frey.  Oh man, I have turned into such a Game of Thrones dork.

Sadly, I think ArtPrize has jumped the shark.  The bigger and cheesier an entry is, the more likely it is to win a prize.  In the current top ten finalists?  A bust of Gerald R. Ford and a giant mosaic of crucified Jesus.  I fear that interesting artists may cease to show up for ArtPrize.  However, I'm confident that art will thrive in Grand Rapids as long as we have places like the UICA, where all the works were thought provoking.

Jess Larson's embroidered series, Look and Learn, Little Girl was probably my favorite work.  Designed to look like children's flash cards, it is meant to be "a more humorous and approachable means to discuss how women perceive their place and the conflicting messages that have been internalized via social conditioning."  These looked more amazing in person than my camera captured here.

Michelle Jaffé's Wappen Field is a sound and sculpture installation.  "Wappen" means coat of arms in German, and the artist's statement said the term "suggests brand, a badge identifying groups such as family, team and tribe."  Are all the artists watching and reading Game of Thrones?!?   Each helmet had voices playing through its speakers, and I found it strangely pleasant and soothing.

Dream Home by Ghost of a Dream is a depiction of a room in a "dream home" created from $70,000 worth of discarded lottery tickets.  My photo only shows a small chunk--it's much larger and has the giant phrase "Maybe Next Time" (ha!) wrought in lottery tickets on the wall above it.

It was cold and blustery, so I got to wear tights for the first time this autumn.  This was taken across the street from UICA at the Site: Lab location, which had some very cool large scale installations on display.  My dress is 1950s from an estate sale this summer.  The striped 1940s gabardine swing jacket was from an estate sale last year, and finally got its first wearing.  It has a cool old Jacobson's (Michigan department store) label in it.  The purse came from an antiques mall last summer.  I've had the vintage necklace and shoes (Aerosoles wedges) for several years.

Andy wore a 1950s gray wool flannel shirt that he's had for ages, with a 1960s plaid flannel jacket that he thrifted.  His vintage Levi's and Eddie Bauer buckle loafers were thrifted, too.  I wish I'd taken a picture of his nifty deadstock 1950s argyle socks.

Ooo, look--nature's art!  I wonder if we can cover our house in two-tone ivy?

xo
K

thrift dog

A dog and her boy.

A dog and her girl.

The girl's outfit.  1960s plaid dress and Isaac Mizrahi for Target herringbone tweed flats.

These have probably been on the blog before.  They're one of my favorite, most-worn pairs of shoes, and for a cheap-o Target buy they've held up amazingly well.  The occasion for these photos was a little long-overdue thrift trip we took over the weekend.  Lucy and I were both excited to get out of the house and on the road.  I never find 1940s dresses while thrifting, but there's this one store where I've found them two or three times now--and this trip did not disappoint!  You'll see it in the shop soon.

xo

K

fruit of the loom

When I hear "Fruit of the Loom" I think of guys in apple and grape costumes, selling men's underwear on TV.  But Fruit of the Loom also made cute dresses back in the day, like this 1950s floral print day dress.  (I don't know what's up with the weird light in this photo.  Andy wanted to take the photo here because of the pretty backdrop.)  I'm also wearing a vintage pink moonglow bracelet, and a less-vintage red plastic rose bead Tarina Tarantino bracelet.

You can see the print and details a bit better here, though I took the below photos in my living room this morning, in the dim light of an overcast sky, so they also aren't ideal.

xo
K

mini golf

Andy and I went to play "artist-designed mini-golf" at the UICA last week.

My outfit:

*1950s dress--estate sale

*cardigan and tights--Target

*shoes--rustlethepetals on Etsy

The mini-golf was hilarious. At this hole, you put on gloves and handled the club like you were handling dangerous material in a nuclear plant.

See that blue blur in the lower left corner--that's Andy's golf ball heading toward the hole.

Loved the doughnut and coffee cup hole, but sadly, it had issues and couldn't be played.

I beat Andy by two strokes. I celebrated with a Sazerac!

xo

K