Press from Axiom: New Alchemy
http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/culturesurfing/2009/11/18/axiom-transforms-the-old-fourth-ward-on-saturday-night/
AXIOM transforms the Old Fourth Ward on Saturday nightNovember 18, 2009 at 8:24 am by Wyatt Williams in Around town, Visual ArtsVacant space at 479 Edgewood will host the Cheap Paper collective exhibition as part of AXIOM on Sat., Nov. 21.
The corner of Edgewood and Boulevard will be the epicenter of a vibrant arts district this weekend. The first project from the newly founded local non-profit Public Acts of Art, AXIOM: Baby Proofwill exhibit art in the Old Fourth Ward from a staggering list of local talent on Saturday.
The Edgewood corridor doesn’t possess the wealth of galleries that neighborhoods like Castleberry Hill or the Westside Arts District can claim. That fact hasn’t stopped event organizers Alana Wolf and Danny Davis, rather, it’s encouraged them. “The whole reason I’m running around begging favors, building out spaces, and working late into the night is to see this neighborhood excel. I want to see what’s in this neighborhood put forward and given a lot of light,” Davis says.
Light, as it turns out, is a major concern. The event will occupy four nontraditional spaces — mostly empty retail space — as well as the upstairs gallery at Danneman’s Coffee shop. The currently vacant locations all needed lighting installed to transform them into functional galleries.
AXIOM has benefited from the generosity of neighborhood businesses and landlords. Lighting Loft donated boxes of lighting, Wonderroot is covering expenses for the Cheap Paper show and a 60-foot-long mural that will be painted during the event, and the vacant real estate has been offered free of charge.
Public Acts of Art’s director Alana Wolf, who also works as an event coordinator for the Alanta Contemporary Art Center, sees the use of nontraditional spaces as integral to their vision. Wolf visited Prospect 1 in New Orleans last year and felt assured of the success contemporary art can have outside of traditional galleries. “People can really engage with difficult work, but it has to be out there,” she says.
AXIOM: Baby Proof will be out there Sat., Nov. 21. The event gets rolling at 5 p.m. and lasts into the night.
http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/culturesurfing/2009/12/02/a-few-questions-with-the-cheap-paper-collective/
Geoffrey C Smith
Where are you from and what part of Atlanta do you live in now?
I was originally born in Colorado and moved to Canton, Ga., when i was in third grade. In the past year or so I’ve lived in a few different places. I lived in Kennesaw close to school, Athens and Canton. I also like to travel a lot. I like being on the road more than anywhere. Atlanta is more like my trading hub.
Can you describe your process?
I work in lots of different kinds of media so it is a little hard to describe my process specifically. I think overall my work is about the gathering of things, both ideas and physical objects. I’m very interested in ritual process. I literally like to explore and get off the beaten path to look at things that accumulate there just out of sight in societies’ basement[s]. When I see something I think is beautiful, I take a picture of it if I can’t keep it. If I can keep it, I bring it back to my studio and it sits around until it finds a place in a piece. My paintings use the same mental process. I like surfaces that have histories that collect over time, like old bulletin boards or bathroom walls in bars. I use mark making and collage to gather a history onto a surface when I paint, a history of my visual thoughts and actions.
Why be part of a collective?
Why not? So far it has been extremely hard to be an artist, especially when you have to work other jobs to pay the bills. There is a lot artists have to do that isn’t making art that people don’t think about. It is definitely a full time job. It makes sense that artists would benefit from sharing ideas, resources, information and space. People tend to listen when a number of people propose an idea, opposed to one lone unexposed artist. It is also good moral support, and a lot of times just good fun.
Who or what do you look to for inspiration?
I’ve never really had to look far for inspiration — all I have to do is open my eyes. The world is beautiful in all of its layers of complexity: Tragedy and happiness are everywhere and sometimes they exist simultaneously. The very fact that our human minds can perceive of such complex beauty inspires me. Some people deal with that perception by writing about it, singing about it or just participating in it. I take the direct approach and amass it for my own closer inspection and to try to show other people that may sometimes forget how surprising even the most mundane things can be.
AXIOM transforms the Old Fourth Ward on Saturday nightNovember 18, 2009 at 8:24 am by Wyatt Williams in Around town, Visual ArtsVacant space at 479 Edgewood will host the Cheap Paper collective exhibition as part of AXIOM on Sat., Nov. 21.
The corner of Edgewood and Boulevard will be the epicenter of a vibrant arts district this weekend. The first project from the newly founded local non-profit Public Acts of Art, AXIOM: Baby Proofwill exhibit art in the Old Fourth Ward from a staggering list of local talent on Saturday.
The Edgewood corridor doesn’t possess the wealth of galleries that neighborhoods like Castleberry Hill or the Westside Arts District can claim. That fact hasn’t stopped event organizers Alana Wolf and Danny Davis, rather, it’s encouraged them. “The whole reason I’m running around begging favors, building out spaces, and working late into the night is to see this neighborhood excel. I want to see what’s in this neighborhood put forward and given a lot of light,” Davis says.
Light, as it turns out, is a major concern. The event will occupy four nontraditional spaces — mostly empty retail space — as well as the upstairs gallery at Danneman’s Coffee shop. The currently vacant locations all needed lighting installed to transform them into functional galleries.
AXIOM has benefited from the generosity of neighborhood businesses and landlords. Lighting Loft donated boxes of lighting, Wonderroot is covering expenses for the Cheap Paper show and a 60-foot-long mural that will be painted during the event, and the vacant real estate has been offered free of charge.
Public Acts of Art’s director Alana Wolf, who also works as an event coordinator for the Alanta Contemporary Art Center, sees the use of nontraditional spaces as integral to their vision. Wolf visited Prospect 1 in New Orleans last year and felt assured of the success contemporary art can have outside of traditional galleries. “People can really engage with difficult work, but it has to be out there,” she says.
AXIOM: Baby Proof will be out there Sat., Nov. 21. The event gets rolling at 5 p.m. and lasts into the night.
http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/culturesurfing/2009/12/02/a-few-questions-with-the-cheap-paper-collective/
Geoffrey C Smith
Where are you from and what part of Atlanta do you live in now?
I was originally born in Colorado and moved to Canton, Ga., when i was in third grade. In the past year or so I’ve lived in a few different places. I lived in Kennesaw close to school, Athens and Canton. I also like to travel a lot. I like being on the road more than anywhere. Atlanta is more like my trading hub.
Can you describe your process?
I work in lots of different kinds of media so it is a little hard to describe my process specifically. I think overall my work is about the gathering of things, both ideas and physical objects. I’m very interested in ritual process. I literally like to explore and get off the beaten path to look at things that accumulate there just out of sight in societies’ basement[s]. When I see something I think is beautiful, I take a picture of it if I can’t keep it. If I can keep it, I bring it back to my studio and it sits around until it finds a place in a piece. My paintings use the same mental process. I like surfaces that have histories that collect over time, like old bulletin boards or bathroom walls in bars. I use mark making and collage to gather a history onto a surface when I paint, a history of my visual thoughts and actions.
Why be part of a collective?
Why not? So far it has been extremely hard to be an artist, especially when you have to work other jobs to pay the bills. There is a lot artists have to do that isn’t making art that people don’t think about. It is definitely a full time job. It makes sense that artists would benefit from sharing ideas, resources, information and space. People tend to listen when a number of people propose an idea, opposed to one lone unexposed artist. It is also good moral support, and a lot of times just good fun.
Who or what do you look to for inspiration?
I’ve never really had to look far for inspiration — all I have to do is open my eyes. The world is beautiful in all of its layers of complexity: Tragedy and happiness are everywhere and sometimes they exist simultaneously. The very fact that our human minds can perceive of such complex beauty inspires me. Some people deal with that perception by writing about it, singing about it or just participating in it. I take the direct approach and amass it for my own closer inspection and to try to show other people that may sometimes forget how surprising even the most mundane things can be.