beat

Socrates, Eve, Scott and Helen Nearing, Amelia Earhart, Joan of Arc, Jesus....
If someone has come before me and was a non-conformist, I'm on it!
So... I love The Beats. I am so Thrilled and can't wait to see....HOWL

The movie of the obsenity trial of Lawrence Ferlinghetti...over the publication of Allen Ginsberg's poetry.

Scott Nearing........what a face.

I hope you watch the glasses, the clothes and the typewriter in this trailer....this is the stuff of how I make my living......
I watch movies and I pick out the anachronisms...it's something that Mark and I are very very good at doing......it is a bit annoying. For everyone!
50s rhinestone cat eye glasses....

Isn't he great that James Franco....so funny that he played the HighSchool dumbell...but deep down, a real softie.....in Freaks and Geeks? And now he's in Columbia’s MFA program for fiction writing, and he should just become a doctoral candidate at Columbia university....which is the same university as ...Allen Ginsberg attended. And Jon Hamm is in it.(what school did he attend, must Google that)...what a ready-made line-up. It better be good! Queers, the 50s, and lawyers....I'm sure it will....

 A pretty dress..not a 50s style, but in mood....very poetry-reading.....classic simple folkloric style....or a real late 50s early 60s modern art pattern...

 a 50s jacket for the fellas....

Late in May, earlier this year, Peter Orlovsky, died. He was the long time love of Allen Ginsberg.
Just after meeting Peter in late 1954, Allen and he moved in together in an apartment in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, which, as you know is the Center of the universe.
And then Allen Ginsberg published Howl and more and more and more.

So, in the July 2010 issue of Interview magazine, Andy Warhol's Interview magazine....The Andy Warhol That Tacoma Hates......
Dennis Hopper (more non-conformism) was also in the July issue, and Dennis also died in late May, so May 2010 sucks.
In the Interview interview, we are reminded that ..."Dennis Hopper bought an early Warhol soup can painting for $75, instigating a lifelong relationship with the artist and a passion for collecting."

Gus Van Sant  (Drugstore Cowboy)is on my top 5 of Directors I love, and it is he whom I  want to direct the movies I write.......so Dennis Hopper's son Henry and Sissy Spacek's daughter Schuyler, are gonna be in a Gus Van Sant movie.....The Restless, which should be out in early 2011. Jesus fucking Christ, it must be hard to get a career in Hollywood, in show business, if your fucking parents are you know, Dennis Hopper and Sissy Spacek. ...tough times. I am hoping VanSant kicked their lily white butts.
James Franco was in another film where he portrayed a real live person, Scott Smith, in Gus Van Sant’s movie Milk.
...and of course, GVS is a producer of ....HOWL.

I think that pure talent cannot be Hollywoodized. As people watch Mad Men on cable TV I hope they realize that Ginsberg and the Beats were the exact opposite of everything that Mad Men represents, (that Jon Hamm!), that standardized prepackaged manipulated lifestyles on sale at WalMart, and the Home Shopping Network, and all that Ronald Reagan and Geo Bush were/stand for.......so, Here's to pure genius, and not relying on mom and dad to make your life for you. As Ginsberg says ......."who threw their watches off the roof to cast their ballot for Eternity outside of Time, & alarm clocks fell on their heads every day for the next decade, ... ..."

Howl

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, 

starving
  hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn 

looking for an angry
  fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly 

connection to the 
  starry dynamo in the machinery of night,
who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high 

sat up smoking in the
  supernatural darkness of cold-water flats floating 

across the tops of
  cities contemplating jazz,

Pariah?

We Could Be the New Pittsburgh !

Hey Tacoma....Feeling down? Down Down Down as a Luzon Building Brick? A pile of Luzon Building bricks?

Feeling as down as a world class bridge...that has no purpose in life but to mock you as it lays barren staring at a world class corporation headquarters that just broke up with you....over the phone...with a text???
Hmmm?

You need direction ! You need a Role Model !
Here, take a look at Pittsburgh....
just one quote...OK, maybe 2 or 3...This will cheer you up...because There Is Hope !!
Just get off your flaccid ass and quit accepting the idea that businessmen and women with an MBA know anything about Life!
Invest in Art. Art. Art.
Art Garfunkel.
Art Walk.
Art Run.
(2 of my friends have MBAs and more are lusting for them....)
Oh sure we need Bean Counters, but they can't be Leaders...or you end up with the Tacoma Mall. Which is an underground Tomb of Corporate Crap. (now that there is no alcohol-serving bar)

I mean the name alone...Pitts...burgh...who knew??
a snippet or 2...

"Jeb Feldman, owner and co-manager of UnSmoke, fell in love with the town soon after he arrived from New Mexico, also to study arts administration at Carnegie Mellon. Braddock's empty lots and neglected streets inspired him to work with others to help spur development. He joined ranks with the city’s young and determined mayor, John Fetterman, who has gained national attention for his efforts to create a workable model of urban renewal. With the support of the mayor, Feldman sees investment in the arts as essential, both to invigorate residents and lure artists and their followers. He has become an unofficial spokesman for Braddock's artistic development."

and very very important...

"Once a shell of its former industrial self, Pittsburgh has been busily making itself over. Now its cheap rents and artistic legacy are luring a new generation of creative pioneers, writes Yael Friedman ..."
Linkie here, and no ...I did not forget that Tacoma hates Andy Warhol.... that Tacoma rejected Andy is a mistake I intend to never ever let Tacoma forget...

let's say that again...CHEAP RENTS
I pay 2 grand a month and I have about 3000 square feet for workshop and retail. I love the space, but the rent is waaaaay too much. Mr. Riley charges the cheapest rent for the most space in Tacoma...in a neighborhood you'd like to have a shop in.
You other landlords, fuck you.
This is Tacoma. It is "a shell of its former industrial self"
You, bad landlords, with your insane high rents have kept Tacoma dirty and stupid. It's waaay hard for one with good intentions to get a foothold here. So...the bad neighborhoods attract the Artists, the Creatives, the Brave...
with NO HELP from the Landed Gentry, or the Government. ...which is fine, but it's too hard, and good people have to give up and leave...a dream delayed is a dream denied.


It does not have to be this way. Anymore.
Vote. Vote Responsibly.
When I think of Jim Merritt, Marilyn Strickland, Kevin Rojecki, Roxanne Murphy, Marty Campbell, Beckie Summers Kirby, Catherine Ushka-Hall and Chris Van Vechten for Tacoma School Board, Victoria Woodards....
All have vision and energy and can lead Tacoma to her new Destiny !

repost...Happy belated Birthday Andy...Tacoma Hated You..

uh, since you mine me for material...here...read this...Best of Tressie (a series) someone should be paying me for this...big time!
Andy would be 81 now!
******************************************
80 years old !
Oh My, what a jumpstart Tacoma woulda had waaaaay back in the early 80s if they'd chosen Andy Warhol.....
That stupid ass decision to put triangles on the Dome delayed T Town's renaissance by decades, my friends.

I think it's sad/tragic that Tacoma rejected one of the most amazing artists of all time....

Sometimes you need someone who is coloring outside the lines.
Whether you like it or not.
I still can't believe I live in a town that hated Andy Warhol !!
People woulda come from all over the world to see it!
Instead the "leadership" of Tacoma had to wait.....
and wait...
and wait........
for The Glass Museum......
and expensive taxpayer subsidized Condos.....


semi-repeating a previous blog:


This:

Not This:

So Tacoma if you want art, REAL ART, you are so on your own.
Do not look to the City for anything that is real.
The City of Tacoma and the phony arbiters of art (snicker) HATE YOU .

Official: TressieFest

I claim October for my own. I always have. I share it with my son who was born on my 20th birthday...and my brothers...and my friend Jen...and oh, I'm sure there are others...many many others.

But it's about ME. October. I love everything about it except that it is a gateway to winter, and I hate winter. No one on the planet hates winter more than me. Cold. Wet. SAD. Colder. Wetter. ugh. Depressing.



October is....the clearest blue skies with eye-gouging yellow leaves...funnest most inspiring thing to do is to lay under a tree, and gaze through the leaves to the sky. I do this all the time, actually. If you ever see me on my back under a tree, do not assume I'm dead/waiting for a bus/looking for my glasses/napping........
please note I am Enjoying Nature.




I am soon to be 55 (I think). I am on a big kick to Enjoy Nature. I think that since I have only 10 or 20 years left on the planet, if my tremendous luck holds out... that I should stop being a Hater on Winter.



So...to that end...
I shall commence to be making the most wonderful winter stuff you evah seen....
glitter covered eyeballs, glitter covered spiders, satin dresses trimmed with white fur, white tuxedo jackets and silver lame pants, Santa hats, and snowflake hats, and cashmere underwear...
and more stripes.

Happy Birthday Andy. Tacoma hated you.

80 years old !
Oh My, what a jumpstart Tacoma woulda had waaaaay back in the early 80s if they'd chosen Andy Warhol.....
That stupid ass decision to put triangles on the Dome delayed T Town's renaissance by decades, my friends.

I think it's sad/tragic that Tacoma rejected one of the most amazing artists of all time....

Sometimes you need someone who is coloring outside the lines.
Whether you like it or not.
I still can't believe I live in a town that hated Andy Warhol !!
People woulda come from all over the world to see it!
Instead the "leadership" of Tacoma had to wait.....
and wait...
and wait........
for The Glass Museum......
and expensive taxpayer subsidized Condos.....


semi-repeating a previous blog:


This:

Not This:

So Tacoma if you want art, REAL ART, you are so on your own.
Do not look to the City for anything that is real.
The City of Tacoma and the phony arbiters of art (snicker) HATE YOU .

Izenmania Asks a Question....More about Steve

The reason Steve was able to do what he did is because of his day job. I have not met anyone else in Tacoma, besides me & Mark, that would open their walls to almost any art that cared to be with us, no commission. They always are worried about Upsetting the Man In Dockers and as you can guess, If it doesn't offend someone , it ain't art!!

Now I have seen some gallery owners who have put on FABULOUS events...but, money was always a consideration, when IT doesn't have to be.....I call it the Russell Effect. Somehow, Tacoma now believes there has to be a profit motive.

Sure Steve coulda made Bank off the gallery.....(thanks to Kelly, Mark & Tressie..it got to happen) but he spent his money on it.....to have fun.....to draw people to that end of the street.......and to feed his art machine..........

A few friends of mine are always trying to put something together, we are always thwarted by money. But for Riley, no one, no other Landlord has done anything outta the goodness of their hearts.......

Don't hold your breath....will someone who has money step up as a service to the art community?
Mark and I our art-funky friends don't have money...but we have art hanging here for a no-commission.....and we do have folks come in for a look see....and buy.
And I closed the shop .....so I could concentrate on making art and collecting materials....a huge hit to my personal bank account...small anony art grant... not withstanding.

And remember ....avant garde and outsider art and guerrilla art and weird quirky art isn't understood in Tacoma....not much not yet. Look at how much crap di Nino got for the Heads Rolling.......And this is Tacoma.....I'm still pissed about the Dome committee rejecting Andy F'n Warhol......oh and now.....Steve is our Andy....yeah, Now...you claim him!

yes I will continue to talk about Steve for a long time...I have a lot to say.
and as I predicted, NOW, "friends" are coming out of the woodwork. I can count on one hand and half those people who befriended him....and it isn't who you might think it is. That is pissing me off. And I'm sure it is irritating some of the small voyeurs of this esteemed blog.

Especially one person in particular. And see, this is an ART Project right here, baby!! Did you get it? Don't worry, I often don't either. But I still show up, I still stare, I still think.....

Hey Aaron, thanks for jumping on the challenge....I called bs on bs....and I always will.
Because Art Saves Lives.....Art is Worth Dying For.

Graffiti Art in Tacoma ? What Do We Know ?

Let's begin here:
Beautiful Angle:

I sent out this:

Hello Art People,

I may be pre-freaking out abit, but, some of you may know I asked for Tacoma folks to come out and paint my walls...and they did ! I had a bonafide artist (as opposed to Folks!) do the upper wall. His name is Tam, and it looks like graffiti but it is not of course. It is Art. My question is: May I count on some support from the community if I get slapped with a citation for "gang graffiti"? Funny thing is ....in our spare time, we paint out real gang graffiti in the block, and we were gonna paint out Tam's work within a few days anyway......since it's not everyone's cuppa Tea...heck it's not even really my cuppa Tea....but I am an Art - Supporter !

Tressie

funkoma vintage

306 E. 26th

Tacoma



I got these:

I think it

should be ok though, since up on 6th Ave. Tower lanes
bowling ally got a real graffiti artist to do a mural
on the side of their building. It is definitely
graffiti styling and it has been there for several
months now, so I am assuming the police can't ticket
legitimate art, or it would be gone by now.
-------------and another ----------------------------------------------
If you commissioned the artwork, then it is not graffiti. I had this discussion with the authorities earlier this year when I spray painted some of my own *** ******** stencils on my garage. They cannot inhibit your freedom of speech or expression. If they did, you could easily take your case to the Civil Liberties Union and/or the media.
It was interesting because graffiti had been on our garage for over a year; it wasn't gang related. We tired of it and decided *** would be a good addition. Shortly after *** went up, we received a graffiti needs to be removed notice. I discussed the complaint with someone in city hall, and, while it was okay to have the *** up, they would appreciate it if we removed the other graffiti, which we did. My conclusion was that someone found *** offensive and reported us because the other graffiti had been up for well over a year. That said, I'm thinking about putting up a big ** symbol on the garage to see if someone reports that.

Anyway, I appreciate people who support graffiti art. There are many talented graffiti artists out there, who have made places more beautiful, interesting, and challenging.


_______________
Well, there is a vast difference between Graffiti and Graffiti Art. One is vandalism and one is art. The one that is art has to be asked for or at least tolerated by the owner of the canvas. If a property owner does not remove the art, then it is art and is protected by the constitution. Also, then, the owner may remove it. There is no law yet on who owns the art once it is created on a wall,for instance. Could an artist bring a suit against an owner and win? Not likely, but maybe. Once art is bought or received as a gift it belongs to the new owner not the creator.

Our little controversy in Tacoma and the Broadway Art Garages is a Perfect Example of the stupidity of Tacoma. (not everyone in Tacoma is stupid, of course)
Did Riley know he didn't have to paint out everything? Maybe he didn't want to bother with it. I do know Riley to be a fine person, and even tho he is as rich as Midas, he is a reasonable person (considering he is a landlord !!)<-- joke.
I don't believe for one Minute that TPD suddenly got all art critic and filed a complaint with the City on a graffiti code violation. But it sure illustrates (get it) what is Wrong with Tacoma.
This town now has no flippin' Clue what is art. No clue about was is an "Urban Experience". The condos and the yuppies want to live in Disneyland and is the City far too willing to recreate Tacoma in the mold of WaltDisney? Well,yes.
I think those of us who think about art (what separates art from craft is the Strong Emotion that art makes you feel) is when the City decided NOT to choose Warhol to put a design on the Tacoma Dome.....and chose those insipid stupid diamond things.

This:

Not This:

So Tacoma if you want art, REAL ART, you are so on your own.
Do not look to the City for anything that is real.
The City of Tacoma and the phony arbiters of art (snicker) HATE YOU .

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol

Submits a proposal for a commission for the Tacoma Dome, the sports and convention centre in Tacoma, Washington. These prints, Flower for Tacoma Dome (IIIA.37), are based on a hybrid flower created by Warhol. Daisy (IIIA.38) is inspired by this proposal. from warhol's cv 1982.
There maybe no bigger fan of Warhol than me ....so much of what we take for granted from art to film to who is and what is ART is because of Andy Warhol....

....Ok maybe there is a bigger fan......but I adore everything about Andy, The Factory, his mother-devotion, and of course, the Velvet Underground.

When I was young I had a girlfriend Lucy, who was several years older than me and she introduced me to The Mothers of Invention, The Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol.....all of this about 1965 -66.
...here's pics of the Tacoma Flower plates ..don't forget the matching tumblers! all from Amazon......Hoo Haw

Here's a White Tacoma Flower poster.......

And of course the BeautifulAngle poster (of a poster?)




.....and......an art controversy I made up in my head..coming soon to a town named Tacoma........
Long story short:
I had an artist come and paint my bldg. My landlord freaked and my neighbors gave me the Poison Eye.....but I don't care. I am a brat....that is ..I do what I want if I ain't hurting nobody.......so I'm driving home the other day, and I see a Tacoma code enforcement officer taking pics of my Art and my bldg. Well, says I, no need to panic....But well here is the letter I sent out to the Art list........

Hello Art People,

I may be pre-freaking out abit, but, some of you may know I asked for Tacoma folks to come out and paint my walls...and they did ! I had a bonafide artist (as opposed to Folks!) do the upper wall. His name is Tam, and it looks like graffiti but it is not of course. It is Art. My question is: May I count on some support from the community if I get slapped with a citation for "gang graffiti"? Funny thing is ....in our spare time, we paint out real gang graffiti in the block, and we were gonna paint out Tam's work within a few days anyway......since it's not everyone's cuppa Tea...heck it's not even really my cuppa Tea....but I am an Art - Supporter !

Tressie

I am 100% in the right here........and we'll just see if the Code officer had anything to do with me.....as it turns out, I had planned to paint out the art since the agreement with Tam had run its course and we'll put something else up there.
Why is this a big deal to me??

Because I like art, I am an artist, I don't like anyone telling me what to do if it ain't hurting nobody.....and I like a good argument once in a while...I feel some days I'm wasting my paralegal skills !

But maybe most important........I Am Still Bitter about the Hillbillies that run Tacoma that didn't choose WARHOL to decorate the Dome !!
I see the Dome out my Kitchen window......This is a Big Deal to me !! Can you imagine what Tacoma could be like? I can and being a hillbilly is fine for hillbillies.........
AARRRGGGG !!!!! We had Warhol in our hands.....and they let him go.......
I am bitter.....
wink