My friend Dave L called me last wednesday night and asked me if I wanted to go see Buckminster Fuller….. in an hour.  His wife was sick and he had an extra ticket.  Not knowing what he was talking about but never afraid of something new  (or free) I showed up at Portland Center Stage.

The show was amazing.  Its basically one actor portraying Bucky just talking for two hours furiously switching from one subject to another all with spit flying everywhere.  After a while you forget about the acting and start to feel as if Bucky himself is up there, playing with triangles.

There was so much information that I dont remember anything specific at all really.  It was inspiring though- to learn about a man who has so many ideas and excitement that it was a miracle he never spontaneously combusted.

Ive been feeling that excitement lately myself with Project Chaboo.  Its really hard to fall asleep at night there is so much going on in my head.  It was great to talk to Dave too about the NEXT project.  Ya- im already thinking about the next one.  Im sure we will learn alot from Project Chaboo and that will help us for future community projects.  Fun!

Dave was talking about some CRAZY project he is doing where a special metal alloy is involved which explodes if you machine it or cut into it.  wow.  That sounds almost as much fun as playing with mercury!

Thanks for taking me Dave.

Chaboo drop off party was this weekend.  Awesome to see everyone and their chaboos!  My dream team of photographers, Joe Mansfield, Anna Campbell, and Jamen Lee took over and did their thang.  I dont know what it does but you know when that umbrella thing comes out that its GO time!

Joel Wakeman was blessed with good weather for finishing his pieces early.  Take note procrastinating artists!

Thats Kelly Neidig on the floor posing for the cameras in my shop.

Jess Hirsch up in the storage racks.  She looks so comfortable she could build herself a little studio and live up there.

Thanks for finishing your pieces on time chaboo artists.  I hope you had fun at the party and photo shoot.  I know it was super exciting for me to see all the new chaboos.  Each piece is impressive but when you get all of them in a row and see the range its straight up amazing.

Pics from the “real” photographers coming soon….

Anna Campbell set up a full on photo studio in my shop to do the product shots.  Thanks Anna!

My friend Joe Mansfield runs a laser engraving company across the street from my shop.  Besides his mad skills with the laser he also has a great eye for photography.  He does the still photography for the Penny Jam project, a sweet video project featuring music videos of local bands in locales throughout portland.

Joe will be doing the portrait photography for us this weekend.  We will have portraits of the artists and their chaboos on the website and have them up at the show as well.  One of the Chaboo artists, Alisha Wessler came by the shop today to drop her chaboo off early.  We had a lot of fun taking pictures of her with her chaboo(s) outside the shop.  The chaboos she did were gorgeous and really interacted well with the original design.  Im very happy with the integration of my design and her style.  A great example of how succesful Project Chaboo can be!

Here are some pics of my shop mate, George Ramos who specializes in craftsman style cabinetry with his chaboo.  He is a bike fanatic and insisted that his bike be in the shot in the background.  Half joking I suggested he ride with it… and then we actually did it.  The setup was complicated: George rode at a slow speed and Alisha handed off the chaboo to him (like a baton relay) while he was in motion.  Then, he rode with the chaboo as Joe strafed taking pictures and i ran backwards with the mobile flash.  With four people’s coordinated movements we got some sweet action shots and managed to not get hit by any cars.  This is a great example how his style (craftsman) and person (bike freak) shine for Project Chaboo.

These portraits will feature the people behind the art.  I want this project to transcend the standard art show where we stand around and look at physical objects we have manipulated to create art.  Art to me is about the process, the journey, the people, just as much as the final result.  How each artist interacts with their chaboos and how they feel about the project will show in these portraits.  Not only will there be range in the artists styles of customizing the chaboo but there will be range in how they want to be portrayed with their creations.

The deeper i get into Project Chaboo I realize its all about the people.  The project involves collaboration, community, and collective energy but at the core its the participating artists.

There is a possibility that we will have Anna Campbell and Jamen Lee also photographing on Sunday.  Anna is doing the product shots for the project and Jamen likes to do experimental photographs with the many cameras he has in his vintage camera collection.  This weekend will be a lot of fun!

In no particular order here are the artists participating so far:

Alisha Wessler - illustration

Lauren Wessler - wood, paper mache

Jennifer Mercede - painting

Chris Haberman - painting

Sohaila Adela - illustration

Kelly Neidig - painting

Nell Warren - painting

Robin Kaplan - illustration

Dave Laubenthal -wood, metal

David Bertman -wood, metal

Kari Merkl - metal

Joel Wakeman - wood

Juno Lachman - glass

Eric Day - wood, metal, fiberglass

Todd Griffith - painting

Joe Mansfield - laser

George Ramos - wood

Mike Halvorson - wood

Paul Sykes - wood

Lindsay Holmes - recycled skateboards

Jess Hirsch - watercolor

APAK - illustration, painting

Erin Albin (appetite) - screenprinting/fabric

Brendan Budge - industrial design

Lisa Kuhnhausen - interior design/fashion

Jason Hernandez - wood

Sarah Bennet - wood, epoxy resin

Karl Ramentol - industrial design

Ken Tomita - wood, bamboo

Amy Ruppel- designer

Maren Jensen- illustration

Sara Huston - furniture design

Orange design.build - salvaged materials

Marshall Ryan - architecture

Ryan Thomson - architecture

Megan Scheminske - painting

Don Jensen - wood

David Butts - kinetic sculpture

Marc Riera - architecture

Ryah Radomski - furniture

John Paananen - interior architecture

Emily Steen - graphic design, environment design

Oluwaseyi (Shay) Sosanya - mechanical engineering

Tom Huang - furniture design

Ben Wood - furniture

Emily Knudsen - interior design

Corbin Keech - architecture

Jim Haas - furniture

Last week artists started coming by my shop to pick up their chaboos.  I had made ten and now I only have 2 left.

Jennifer Mercede, Chris Haberman

Jennifer Mercede and her friend Chris Haberman were the first to pick up and got the best selection.  They often collaborate on large scale murals around town where their styles really compliment each other.  As you can see, their work is amazing!  Jennifer had several ideas for what to do so I gave her two chaboos.  Her work has a youthful exuberance that will add alot of energy to this project.

Jennifer Mercede, Chris Haberman

One concern of mine is that the artists will be hesitant because they are not used to this medium.  Jennifer told me its going to be hard for her to hack into such a finished, beautiful piece.  I hope this hesitation/intimidation to use a finished piece of furniture does not hinder the artists from being able to release their full creativity.  Being able to let go is the critical ingredient for a successful transfer from idea to reality.

Jennifer Mercede