All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt

Seriously. They do. I'm in Hamburg right now, and day one of Flatstock Europe 4 (or "Euro-Flatstock," as I've just decided would be a funnier moniker) has come and gone. It was great to see some familiar faces, as well as meet some new ones. Jay and Diana taught me some German. If you ask me how I'm doing, I know how tell you that I'm good. Awesome.

I'll be back home Sunday night, and will resume working on the new narrative series. Expect to see two new prints available at the beginning of October.

I'll be here at Euro-Flatstock, but if you're in the Chicago area, go to this:

Multimedia Benefit for the Cause and Affect Foundation
Quennect4 Gallery, 2716 W. North Ave & California, Chicago, IL
September 26th, 2009. 8PM-2AM
Live music by Black Umbrella Brigade, Isis Rose, Alltruism, Noble Savage, and Spacesuit. Live art, DJs, and screenprinted art and posters by Dan Grzeca and Justin Santora. $10 minimum donation. All proceeds will benefit the Cause and Affect Foundation.
www.causeandaffectfoundation.org

Notes from Willem II Straat

Greetings from Tilburg. Today was my second day in the Netherlands. Tilburg is a pretty quiet town in a southern part of the country. I've been learning all sorts of interesting things about the different parts of Holland. I already know four words in Dutch (one of them is the word for "squirrel"). One thing that's really great about poster events like this is having the opportunity to talk to other artists about their work and their process, as well as about the different places they come from. The poster scene is very different in Holland than it is in US. There are many talented poster artists here, but there does not seem to be a fully developed poster culture. My friend, Mara (who organized Z-Stock) is working hard to bring that enthusiasm we enjoy in North America to different parts of Europe. I will be in Groningen before heading to Hamburg, and I will have an opportunity to check out Vera, a music venue that has an in house print shop to produce all the posters for its shows. This place has produced many beautiful posters. Check it out: http://www.vera-groningen.nl/posters/

I've been eating delicious sandwiches and cupcakes from my new friends at 50 Food Combo, a small vegan food and catering company from Germany. They have a booth fifteen feet from mine. Needless to say, I've been a frequent visitor.

Okay, I'm going to head back to my hosts' house. I've been stealing the internet from a small cafe in town, and strangers keep talking to me in Dutch. And unless they're talking about squirrels or mentioning names of cities that I recognize, I can only smile and nod.

The TV's broke. That's a good thing.

To the right is part of a film that I'm working on at the moment. It will be the third piece in a current narrative series. It's two 11x17 transparencies cut and spliced together (note the litho tape going through the head of the figure). I've still got some touching up to do and adjustments to make. As anxious as I am to finish cutting films and start printing this, I don't think I will get around to it before I leave for the Netherlands. This print will have my undivided attention upon my return, however! I plan on doing a lot of layering and transparent colors for this one. It's going to be at least six screens.

In other news, fellow Illinoisian, Dan Grzeca and I will have some screen printed art and posters on display (and for sale) at the Quennect4 Gallery in Chicago as part of a benefit for the Cause & Affect Foundation. Check it out.

Multimedia Benefit for the Cause and Affect Foundation
Quennect4 Gallery, 2716 W. North Ave & California, Chicago, IL
September 26th, 2009. 8PM-2AM
Live music by Black Umbrella Brigade, Isis Rose, Alltruism, Noble Savage, and Spacesuit. Live art, DJs, and screenprinted art and posters by Dan Grzeca and Justin Santora. $10 minimum donation. All proceeds will benefit the Cause and Affect Foundation.
www.causeandaffectfoundation.org

New art print

I'm Going to Tell God How You Treat Us
7 screens on ivory cover, 18x24"
Edition of 40, signed & numbered

I recently came up with an idea to do a print of businessmen chasing lightning bugs. I thought the concept was kind of funny, as we outgrow (either naturally or through social shaping) this pleasure by the time we're adults.
As children, we were so fascinated by these unique, luminescent creatures that our first instinct was to own them -- to capture and collect them in old pickle jars. I remember poking holes in the lids of jars and even adding small branches to their artificial environment. But despite our best efforts to domesticate them, they seldom made it to the following morning.
I see a parallel in the way many facets of the industrialized world set out to conquer and tame nature while we inescapably remain a part of it. In short, I am critical of the business world for its practice of possessing and commodifying things it ought not to, but I'm sympathizing with those who have been groomed to view the world in such a way.