Art Crawling

These past couple of months have been great for seeing and experiencing art. Seems like every weekend there has been new exhibits opening and art events happening. Not wanting to leave any loose ends, I'm just now getting around to posting about a couple of events that happened about three weeks ago here in Athens. We headed over to ATHICA (ATHENS INSTITUTE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART) to catch the opening of their new exhibit called "WORKED", a show based around the themes of working and labor. We got to the opening reception late, after most every one left...which turned out to be okay, because we were able to experience/play with the art without any hinderance. One of our favorite pieces at the exhibit were these deceptively clever CINDER BLOCKS made of a soft FOAM....





This was a "PIG ORGAN" - the way it is supposed to work is that you load little pigs into the different sections on the organ and then you poke them with these built-in prods to make them squeal:





An industrial landscape on a QUILT:



Really cool CUT-PAPER ASSEMBLAGES:













Some EMBROIDERED ANIMAL PELTS:





A detailed shot of the minimalist and mesmerizing LINE DRAWINGS of Leslie Snipes (I am a big fan of her art and actually own a couple originals by her):



The most amazing piece in the show was this TOILE WALLPAPER and UPHOLSTERY. From a distance, it looks like your average chinoiserie-style pattern, but when you look closer, you'll notice all these little details...



















Before we ended up at ATHICA, we were at the ECO ART LAB checking out the opening of their "CLIMATE CHANGE - CONVEYING REALITIES" exhibit...



Our friend Katy made this KNITTED PIECE for the show. Jean and Missy couldn't help but admire it:















There was this large piece hanging from the ceiling that looked a bit like a lace blanket - it was actually made with many PLASTIC BAGS being tied, knotted, and woven together...







Missy, Havi, and Lizzie discuss the work that Havi and the Hillsman Middle School Science & Energy Team drew directly onto the walls of the Eco Art Lab. The piece is called "THE ECO CATS DISCUSS CLIMATE CHANGE":









In another room, THE HUNGRY GNOME turned some shipping boxes into a RAISED GARDEN BED and a container for COMPOST: