Kyle Regan—a masochistic Stranger reader—has vowed to do every single thing recommended by the Stranger Suggests (movies, galleries, bars, concerts) for the month of January. Look for his reports daily on Slog. —Eds.
Eugene and I learned a lesson yesterday: Googling an address without an zip code is NOT good enough. My directions to go to “312 Second Ave S Seattle” lead us south. Deep south. White Center south. You would think that Pioneer Square would qualify as more “Seattle” than fucking Rat City, but whatever.
There were two collections on display: Amir Zaki’s Relics (lifeguard towers) and Ron Nagle’s sculpture, a series of… sculptures. I came for the suggested pictures of towers thrust into the sky, and I was not disappointed. Thrusting towers… highbrow. Turns out the James Harris Gallery closed at 5 pm. This seemed odd. Who takes a break in the middle of their workday and swings by an art gallery? Wouldn’t later hours be better? I almost had to skip it entirely due to a tight schedule. The James Harris Gallery was dead. I expected to woo the art crowds with my new double-breasted pea coat. A pea coat! And a scarf! I was ready to mingle, wine and dine, spit the shit, etc. Instead I stood there like a jackass with an overpriced coat in an empty hall. I asked a staffer, Jim, if today had been busy. I was the 5th attendee that day (at nearly 3 pm).
We don’t have lifeguard towers in Seattle. The closest things are the lifeguard highchairs on Green Lake’s toxic waters. A far cry from the OC towers pictured. They looked alien. Most of the photos had cloudy, cold backgrounds. Californian structures with Seattle-like weather hit me harder than I expected. Made me think of Alki Beach in summer: hot dogs, flip flops, gratuitous reggae music. The daydreaming ended pretty quickly when we went back to the shitstorm outside.
Poor planning aside, I enjoyed myself. Jen Graves’s recommendation definitely changed my perception of, em, lifeguard towers. Now I see them as something more whimsical. I wanted to debate Sheryl Crow’s hotness with Graves, but she didn’t show. Do any of The Stranger‘s staff make it to the events they suggest? If these things are so good, why doesn’t the whole editorial staff show up?
“If these things are so good, why doesn’t the whole editorial staff show up?”
You should have seen us at Shabazz Palaces.
Yay to Captain Kyle!
@1 I suspect that missing that show will be at the top of my own personal “Regrets Issue” for 2010.
Ok, I’ll be the naysayer. These prints, to me, are just another case of – if your photos really aren’t that strong then print them very large and people will be amazed by their monumental scale.
Dear Bigger, aren’t the majority of the prints in the show a modest scale, like 20×24?
Green Lake is toxic? Can goose shit turn a lake toxic?
It’s not that you didn’t have a zip, it’s that you fucked up the comma.
Kyle, I feel ya on the gallery hours. This is why the the First Thursday art walk is so crowded – it’s the only night those of us with jobs can see art in galleries. Nice review, by the way.
if 20×24 is modest then my photographs are nuns at 8×10.
Dear 3675309
No, the majority of the images are in the 50×60 range. They are pretty plays on color and that is about it.
I think pea coats, by definition, are double-breasted, so you were a little redundant.
Actually, I was being somewhat coy before when I phrased it as a question. I actually know that the the majority of the pieces, 5 or 6 (counting one in the back) are 20×24. There are 2 big tower pictures and 1 big Van diptych. The big ones are 60×75.
Shabazz Palaces is the 2010 version of Pike Street Fried Fish.
I hereby declare the SLOG Shabazz Palaces drinking game. Every time SP is mentioned on SLOG, get on your fixie bike and drink a PBR.
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/calif…