Nov 7
2374 NW Vaughn, 525-9211
$3 donation
Seems like book/zine shows grow like weeds in this city. Thank God then, for the folks at Wacky Willy's, who are putting a new twist on the typical book/zine show format. More than just a bunch of tables with people trying to peddle their homemade literary wares, this final entry in Wacky Willy's season of art events will add a visual component to the mix, based on the theme of... the book. That's right, artists from around the city have started with the classic image of a book, and gone from there to wherever their imaginations wish to roam.
Painter Lauren Steinhardt drew from cheap romance paperbacks for inspiration. Instead of going off of the front cover, however, Steinhardt has resisted that slightly arousing, yet typical image of a busty lady getting delicately sniffed by a long-haired Fabio clone, and opted for the back page, where the list of other recommended romance novels lies. The result is a huge painting of... a list of books.
This is only one example of the delightfully strange art projects that have grown out of the theme of "the book." Conceptual artists Georgia Lee Hussey and Esther Ahn used their feet to make a rubbing of the entire length of the Broadway Bridge with carbon on adding machine tape. They then folded the entire thing into a book. Math whiz John Woods analyzed the random streams of numbers that online password generators output, then charted the results on a tiny scroll.
In addition to the 20 or so artists showing pieces at the event, there will be readings from local writers Shoshanna Cohen, Holly Heffermen, Maryrose Larkin, Mark Owens, Mark Russel, and music by the Las Vegas duo Tuesday's Taken, the funny electronic monkey noise artists, Dizzy Star House, and the eclectic spiritual cleanser, DJ Yode. There will of course be scads of self-produced zines and books. If that's not enough to bring you running, remember that the show is also a benefit for the Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC), a very cool space in downtown Portland (917 SW Oak Street #218) where aspiring self-publishers can gather to create their masterpieces. Staff members from the IPRC will be on hand to demonstrate how to make homemade books. All in all, it should be a cornucopia of do-it-yourself titillation. A "titplosion," if you will. JUSTIN SANDERS
