Resolution by Danny Saathoff

Resolution, by Danny Saathoff, is an interactive piece of art featured in last month's Message In A Bottle show. The piece started off as a massive blank grid and visitors were invited to select one of many small, rolled papers from a bottle. Each piece of paper contained a set of coordinates with colors assigned to them, and visitors used their fingerprints to reveal a hidden message.

As the piece slowly materialized, visitors eager took turns leaving their mark, sharing thoughts and speculations about what the final image would reveal.


Danny is an amazing artist, from concept to craft, who encourages viewers to slow down and interact with art. This piece is a perfect example of involving everyone in the art-making process and in the end, invites them to continue to make more.

You can see more of Danny's work on his website.

Artist Interview: Wren McDonald

On this last day of celebrating the Message in the Bottle Show, we present illustrator and comic artist Wren McDonald! Wren's whimsically humorous creations are gems to the illustration world and definitely worth looking up.

What did you research to create your piece for Message In A Bottle, or where did you draw inspiration from? 

I've seen National Treasure a few times.


Do you ever hide things in your work in general? (references to people you know, homages to your favorite songs, etc.?) 

I've hidden friends' initials, inside jokes and stuff like that in pieces before. Especially if there's graffiti in a piece that I'm working on. I like there to be small stories in the details.


Our shows are often based off of things we are briefly obsessed with (like symbols and secret societies). Are you obsessed with anything right now? 

Drawing small men, using the World Wide Web, Don't Worry, Be Happy, and collecting printed matter.


Do you have a trick to get motivated when you don't feel like making anything?

Well, I never feel like not working for that long of a time. But when I really don't want to work, but I have to anyways because of a deadline, I just sit down and make myself do it, and it kind of sucks, but at least it gets done.

Can you keep a secret?

It depends on whose secret it is.


For more about Wren, check out his site or follow his blog!

Artist Interview: Tara Abbamondi

We recorded a podcast a couple weeks ago to talk about the Message In A Bottle show, and it made us realize what we'd really like to hear is what some of the artists have to say about the subject. And of course, we always love to hear about process.

Tara Abbamondi is a profoundly hard-working and talented comic artist from Pennsylvania, and she was gracious enough to share with us!



What did you research to create your piece for Message In A Bottle, or where did you draw inspiration from? 

Long story short, I looked outside. I'm fortunate enough to live in a wooded area that sparks my imagination of the fantastical things that might be out there. I enjoy the woods, nature in general, and I feel like those surroundings are a fuel for my work.


Do you ever hide things in your work in general? (references to people you know, homages to your favorite songs, etc.?) 

Yes, on many occasions! I frequently add cameos of people I know within my work (I work in comics so it definitely makes my job a bit easier when I don't have to make up faces for a crowd). I also like to add little musical references as well, those are usually a bit more subtle and silly.

 
Our shows are often based off of things we are briefly obsessed with (like symbols and secret societies). Are you obsessed with anything right now? 

Oh dear, well, anyone who knows me well knows that my obsession with A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) runs deeply, as well as my love of Scotland, which seem to go hand-in-hand at times. I could talk about Game of Thrones for hours on end, and sometimes I do, my apologies to Paul.


Do you have a trick to get motivated when you don't feel like making anything?

Typically, I take a break from what I'm doing, read a book, take a walk, drink lots of tea and coffee--and if none of that works, I work on something else, like a warm-up, to hopefully get the ideas moving. Oddly enough, social sites like twitter do a bit of help there as well. I find there's no greater motivation than seeing the awesome things other folks are doing.

Can you keep a secret?

 Yes, quite well actually!



For more of Tara's work, check out her site, subscribe to her blog or follow her on twitter!

Podcast: Visual Sound with Tom Cassidy

This week's podcast is a real treat! This past Saturday, Tom Cassidy performed Visual Sound along with four other poets for a crowd at Light Grey Art Lab. It was an amazing performance, a dense rollercoaster of language, full of clever humor, beautiful poetry, and whip-smart commentary! It's hard to sum it up, so please have a listen! You'll see what we mean!

Download the MP3 or Subscribe via iTunes!

Visual Sound with Tom Cassidy
Length: 1:31:33
Music: As Colorful As Ever by Broke For Free via FMA.
Synopsis: This podcast is an audio recording of 'Visual Sound', a lecture/performace by Tom Cassidy. This event took place at Light Grey Art Lab on Saturday, February 2nd, 2013.


Show Notes:
Tom Cassidy is a fixture in the international smallpress/mail-art community. His work has appeared in hundreds of offbeat publications and exhibitions, and remains in special collections around the world. He has performed at dozens of colleges, galleries, and theatres, and is currently a performer and board member at Cheap Theatre and Patrick's Cabaret.

Tom is known as the "Musicmaster" and "the Funniest Mad Man or the Maddest funny man." He has been participating in the mail-art, slam poetry, and literary community for decades, and loves to share all of his knowledge and nonsense associated with studying linguistics.

Guest Poets:
Cheap Theatre Founder: Erica Christ
Cartoonist/Storyteller: Kay Kirscht
Poet/Activist: Leigh Herrick
Housing Link's: Josh Dye

Message In A Bottle Opening Recap

The opening reception for our first show of 2013, Message In A Bottle, took place last Friday night! It was an awesome, mystery-filled event that had visitors searching for clues, decoding messages and enjoying a lot of great art!


It was a noticeably thoughtful and intimate event, very quiet compared to previous openings. Upon walking into the gallery, visitors were directed to a cryptic poem which hinted at secrets hidden in the artwork on the walls. If any vistor could discover all the secrets the clues referred to, they were given a free piece of art to hide in their jackets (to keep it from prying eyes) and clue about the first step of solving a bigger mystery (here's another clue).

Many people took to the task with vigor, although it was a tough nut to crack. In all, only 12 people were able to walk out with the secret piece of artwork.



Part of our goal for Message In A Bottle was to slow people down when viewing art, and make them absorb all of the tiny details. So we were happy to see people scrutinizing every inch of the artwork on display, discussing what they found (or didn't!) with their friends.

The small gallery held a collection of work from featured artist Jackey Batey, including her artist book Running A Secret Society No 20. Alongside that we had 19 pieces from Kali Ciesmier's recent MAKE 2013 workshop. Participants of that workshop each created a piece of art which hid a single letter that, when combined, spelled out a secret message.



And if all that wasn't enough, Danny Saathoff had an amazing interactive piece where each visitor pulled coordinates from a bottle, and left color-coded fingerprints. When filled in completely, it will reveal a hidden... message? Picture? We don't even know, so we're as excited as anyone to see the final result!


You can see how it looked after the opening, it's getting there but there's still more to go! Stop into the gallery to add your mark and finally reveal the hidden message!

If you want to see all the artwork from the show, visit our online store to view or buy any of the amazing work! You can also see all the pictures from the opening in our Message In A Bottle flickr set!

Also, all the artwork will be archived in our visit our online gallery!

A New Clue to the Mystery!

Another image sent to me via email. A scroll? What is this, and who is holding it?

I just received a new piece of information regarding the strange, locked section of our site.
This time my anonymous informant is saying that there are only six people involved in the main group from the Message in the Bottle Show.

Does that mean that there is a six-letter password?
Still, I feel like we're getting closer.

What's strange is that I feel like I've even seen some strange things in their recent blog posts...
Maybe that's why they seemed a little out of place...
I'm sure the letters have some connection to each other.

Still, everyone has still been tight-lipped about who is involved.
I am going to try looking through the blogs again and see if I can find letters hidden in the work. I know they couldn't be far.
I have a feeling that's where I might find the clues.


I will keep you posted if we find anything else out.
How strange...

Interview with Tom Cassidy

This week we're hosting a guest performance/lecture by Tom Cassidy, a local artist and expert on mentalism, mail art, slam poetry and linguistics. His fascinating and unusual work has been featured globally, from publications to performances. To get a little taste of what's to come, we asked Tom a few questions about his work and process.

Can you share a little bit about your history and involvement with the literary and poetry communities? 

I’ve been an active mail-artist since 1970 and have accumulated over 30,000 pieces of correspondence art–pre-zine-culture smallpress, postcards, poems, collages, drawings, pass-&-add sheets, etc. And I’ve been a contributor to dozens of alternative, underground and visual poetry smallpresses, from Modern Correspondence to Popular Reality, from Shavertron (a mostly serious zine based on cult-sci-fi-guy Ray Palmer’s belief that ancient aliens inhabit inner earth) to Joe Bob Brigg’s Drive-In Newsletter, from Lost & Found Times to the Portland Scribe (for which I wrote a column about correspondence art in the 70s). I co-founded the performance poetry troupe The Impossibilists and have shown or read at over one hundred galleries, festivals, bars and colleges; my works have been in over 200 shows blahblahblah (I didn’t participate for a resumé or batting average). I also hosted Open Mics for 25 years and heard over 12000 writers and folksingers as a type of penance.

Podcast: Interview with Jackie Batey

Dr. Jackie Batey is the founder of Damp Flat Books, where she makes limited-edition, hand-made artist books and zines. Usually run in editions of 10 to 50 Jackie uses her own photography, illustration and hand-drawn type to make wonderful pieces which she also designs, prints and binds.

Jackie also teaches illustration at the University of Portsmouth where she curates an art-zine collection, Zineopolis.

One of Jackie's artist books, Running A Secret Society No 20, caught our eye and really resonated with us as we were planning the Message In A Bottle show, so we invited her to be our featured artist! Jackie is a super interesting person so we wanted to get an opportunity to record a podcast together, and it's a fascinating listen!

Download the MP3 or Subscribe via iTunes!

Interview with Jackie Batey
Length: 15:46
Music: As Colorful As Ever by Broke For Free via FMA.
Synopsis: Lindsay interviews Jackie Batey, who is the featured artist in Light Grey Art Lab's January, 2013 show, Message In A Bottle.

Thanks to Jackie for participating in the Message In A Bottle show and finding some time to chat with us! You can find out what Jackie is up to on the Damp Flat blog!

A Search for the Truth.

This is an image that was sent to me via email... what does it mean?

There is a rumor going around that some of our members of our Message in a Bottle Exhibition are affiliated with a secret society. We have noticed that our web designer had embedded something weird things in our Message in a Bottle page of our website, but we had overlooked it until today, when I found that there is a hidden section of the site only accessible with a password.

I tried in vain to unlock it, but I think I need to look somewhere else for the clues.

I received a note today in my email from someone tipping me off that some of the artists involved may be quite involved and might know something we don't know. They told me to 'look for the letters that reveal' and that 'the mix of clues will open the passage." They asked to remain anonymous.

I am thinking that I might look and see if I can find any clues in their sites or blogs. I hope I can solve this and see what's going on. I'd like to get to the bottom of this.

If anyone finds anything, let me know.
I'll keep you posted on what we find out and if we see any other clues to who or how this got here. Until then, we'll be looking ourselves.

Good luck.

Podcast: Secrets

We're back with a brand new podcast! In honor of our upcoming show, Message In A Bottle, this week we are talking all about secrets! Secret societies, secret places, what makes a secret a secret and more.

Download the MP3 or Subscribe via iTunes!

Secrets
Length: 57:14
Music: As Colorful As Ever by Broke For Free via FMA.
Synopsis: Lindsay, Jenny, Francesca and Chris talk about inspirations behind the Message In A Bottle Show. Secret places, secret societies, what makes a secret a secret, and just secrets all around!

Show Notes: Here's a list of things we talked about on the show (and some things we didn't get around to, but meant to). These are a lot of the influences that went into planing the Message In A Bottle.

-Occult America: White House Seances, Ouija Circles, Masons, and the Secret Mystic History of Our Nation
-The Book Of Symbols: Reflections On Archetypal Images
-Ritual America: Secret Brotherhoods and Their Influence on American Society
-Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees
-Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience
-The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World
-The "Masonic" One Dollar: Fact of Fiction?
-The Safe House
-Wabasha Street Caves
-The La-li-lu-le-lo


Remember, Message In A Bottle's opening reception is this Friday, from 7-10 pm! Check out this post for more information.

In the Works

Classes on Happiness, Creativity, and Collaboration

We have been spending a lot of time this week talking about our new goals for 2013, what projects we would like to make happen, and new ways of reaching out to artists. I for one, am blown away with all of the changes and growth that came in 2012, all of the projects, exhibitions, workshops, and partnerships that would not have been possible without the excitement and participation of viewers, artists, friends, and family. 

As we begin this new year, we are propelled by the thought of reaching goals, finding happiness, and discoveries new ideas, which has become evident in the themes of our upcoming exhibitions and classes. I would like to spend some time sharing the upcoming events, and how we hope that these will renew a sense of creativity and motivation in all of us. 

2013 Resolve to Make

This past weekend, January 4-6th, Kali Ciesemier led a group of 18 illustrators and designers through a three day workshop focusing on art practice and happiness. The workshop was designed to push each artist to find their own unique needs, desires, and skills as freelance artists- what makes them flourish. It was an intense few days filled with lectures, critiques, and demonstrations led by Kali, individual studio time, group discussions, and guest artists; it was an overall inspiring and productive experience. The workshop will result in a gallery show that will accompany our January exhibition Message In A Bottle. 

January 25th marks the opening of Message In A Bottle, an exhibition featuring original paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures exploring the ideas of hidden imagery and codes in art. This show ignites a sense of curiosity and slowness, transforming the audience into the clue masters and masterminds, as they unveil the tiny details and secret components of each work. 

Event Information

Accompanying the Message In A Bottle Exhibition, Lindsay Nohl will be leading a studio course on Codes, Symbols, and Cyphers. This class will explore how we keep secrets, codes and un-code messages; It is about the history and culture of secret keeping. Also, Tom Cassidy, a local poet, language connoisseur, and visual artists will be presenting on Visual Sound: a lecture and performance on slam poetry, stage mentalism, and hidden meaning. 

February 1st Light Grey is hosting it's second all-night, work party: The Light Grey Lock-In. This event is near and dear to my heart, because I love the idea of collaboration, talking through ideas, and taking on those rough midnight hours together. It is such a struggle to keep moving on a project when you feel stuck and unsure, so we have created this event as a fun and lighthearted art gathering and studio session. 

These are just a few of the immediate events we have on the way. We hope that the beginning of 2013 brings you all happiness and productivity.

Message In A Bottle Opening Reception!

The new year is here, and we've got an excellent show to start 2013 off right!

Message In A Bottle is all about cryptic messages, hidden secrets, ancient illusions! Curated by Light Grey Art Lab's own Lindsay Nohl, it's a show where the artwork is on display to be poured over, studied and deciphered.

The opening reception for Message In A Bottle is from 7-10 PM on Friday, January 25th. You'll definitely want to be there! The exhibit includes several pieces of interactive artwork, including a piece that consists of coordinates and an inkpad. Visitors are invited to use their fingerprint to make a mark on a gridded canvas. Slowly, a message will appear, and a secret will be revealed!

The exhibition will feature a limited edition print for those people that are the first to find the hidden images in the pieces, an interactive decoding piece, and walls and walls of art containing intimate secrets and mesmerizing detail!

Jackie Batey will also be joining us as a featured artist for this exhibition, as well as a collection of work from Kali Ciesemier's MAKE 2013 workshop.

RSVP via the Facebook Event Page!

Remember, the Opening Reception is Friday, January 25th from 7- 10pm! We're located on the corner of Stevens Ave and 26th Street - right across from the Minneapolis College of Art & Design. Street parking is available on Stevens, 26th and 1st Ave.

See you there!

Message in the Bottle Artists Announced

For those of you that remember- we did a call for art a while back for individuals that would be interested in participating in our most secret exhibition ever! We asked artists to submit links to their portfolios - then help us create a show filled with hidden imagery, secrets, codes and an overall mysterious vibe.

I'm happy to finally announce the amazing people that will be joining us! We're excited to meet some new people and really looking forward to spending hours standing in front of the art looking for all of the clues and hidden elements!

Without further ado:

The Message in a Bottle Artist List:

Brun Croes
Lorena Alvarez Gómez
Allison W Sommers
Rob Chandler
Noelle Stevenson
Florent SACRE
Janna Morton
Hannah Christenson
Anna Bron
KitKat Pecson
Rachel Idzerda
Rodrigo Aviles
Marguerite Sauvage
Claire Hummel
Dan Everett
Steven Hughes
Maria Grueter
Adrien Dacquel
Nayoun Kim
Wren McDonald
Federico Piatti
Jori Bolton
Nicolo Pellizzon
Ricardo Bessa
Taryn Gee
Jesse Tise
Danny Saathoff
Karina Rehrbern
Ashley Mackenzie
Ana Benaroya
Tara Abbamondi
Victoria Maderna
Steven Bagatzky

I'm excited to announce that we are also featuring the work of Jackie Batey, who has been a huge inspiration to us for this topic! We'll be featuring a wall of her work in the adjunct gallery at the same time as the Message in a Bottle Show!

She has created the most wonderful artist book called Running a Secret Society. I found a copy of this about a month ago and fell in love with the flavor of her writing and her design.

Check out her work here: www.dampflat.com

More information on the show and the work will follow!
Until then!

CALL FOR ART: Message in a bottle

You're walking down the beach for some much needed 'you' time. The sun is setting and you're really enjoying the serenity of the sounds and smells of the beach.

And then you trip.

Over a bottle.

***

( Did you like that? I'm obviously cut out to be a professional writer. )

We're really excited about our new call for art! Are you interested in joining us as one of the artists for our next exhibition? Submit your name, email and portfolio link in the comments below by Thursday November 22.

Message in a Bottle is an exhibition focusing on little secrets, special things, hidden treasures and mysterious messages.

From mid January through mid February Light Grey Art Lab transforms into one giant decoder ring / spyglass / Rosetta stone / Pandora's box / Mad Magazine fold-in. What does that mean? It means we want everyone to look a little harder at the details. Is there something secret in the art? We hope so.

With the Message in a Bottle Exhibition on the walls as the perfect backdrop, we will be dedicating workshops, lectures and events around the topic of Secrets, Codes, Mysteries and things of that nature!

We are looking for approximately 40 or so artists that are interesting in making viewers covet the details, look for hidden compartments, find secret messages, decipher codes and really spend time looking through the work for inconspicuous elements. Do you have the ability to create something cryptic? If so, we want to hear from you!

If you think you'd be a good fit for our upcoming show, put your name, email and a link to your portfolio below by Thursday NOVEMBER 22.

The work for this show will be featured as prints in our gallery and the work will be showcased online for everyone to view and take part in the fun! We're hoping to have a range sizes, styles and interpretations. More details about size limitations, deadlines and other important information will be emailed out to the selected artists the week of the 26th, and we'll be sure to post the names of the contributors here!

***

Also - For those of you that like to plan a little bit out - the deadline for final artwork will be January 3rd, so please keep that in mind when submitting!

More details on the final exhibition dates will be posted soon! Until then, show us what you've got!

Questions? Please send me a note at hello(at)lightgreyartlab.com


***

Know someone that might be perfect for our show? Please help us spread the word!