SAM

So seeing Nick cave soundsuits was kindof cool at the SAM. It was
especially interesting paired with all the African celebratory masks
and costumes. I

Breakfast w/Ian and Lori

If you have the money I have the Goodes.

Holy crap.

So a sign that fox is a joke. They have their own retail store. That
is on par w/ Disney and Looney Toons. Granted we are in Texas. At the
George bush intercontinental airport. But still.

Thick skin fashion forward

So my good friend shell toes -http://www.thickskinfashionforward.blogspot.com/  has taken an interest in my wine project. She writes-

  

When I was surfing all my morning blogs I noticed your post about drinking only wine. I will admit I have had many a fantasy of chugging bottles of wine while creating masterpieces of art. Just watch Modigliani. But that will have to wait until Helmi's out of the nest I suppose. As a wine pro at this point in my life, let me give you a little advice and testimony.

First of all, wine hangovers are a BITCH. The headache is way worse. Second of all, you will never get as silly on beer as you will on red wine. Beer can make you loud and obnoxious. Wine is the smart person's beer. It still assists you in making a fool of yourself, but in slurred slow motion. It makes you feel warm and fuzzy. And therefore reality and everyone in it is warm and fuzzy. Why do you think so many housemoms drink it all day? Wine is like cocaine as a downer.

As far as sexual side effects, I guess you could say those are good. For women, it makes you want to have sex, which can be hard to want to do sometimes, especially when the sex is boring or the guy is a jerk and leaves his laundry everywhere.

Here are a few tips:

Red wine is the only good wine. Drink white or zinfandel and you might as well be rollerblading in the front of the gay pride parade waving a rainbow banner like the sword in Braveheart.

Simultaneously drink the red wine in one glass, and WATER in the other. You will still get drunk but you are preventing your head feeling like that hard shrivled brown thing in the middle of an apricot in the morning.

Wine stains- a lot. Don't spill. And if you care about personal hygiene brush your teeth before passing out or you'll wake up looking like a vampire.

Personally, I prefer wine when I'm trying to savor the night, beer when I'm trying to forget. And liquor, well that's just an asshole move at this point. Happy drinking!

Oops forgot about transformer.

So I didn't know that the transformer benefit auction which I was a
part of on saturday was going to have complimentary Belgian beer. Wine
tasting officially started Sunday.

The 9%12% project.

So let's try this. My whole life I have had an aversion to wine.
White, red, I never like any of them. As it stands right now beer
drinking is getting me into a bit of trouble. So I am pulling the old
switcheroo. I will only drink wine (as a booze) until new years.

Kind of a saucer procrastinators version of a new years resolution. I
feel that wine might make me a bit more tolerable at at openings.
Maybe make the work at said openings more tolerable as well. I stole
the title from Glenn Beck. Partly because wine is generally 9 or 12%
by volume. But also as a wacked out liberal socialist I believe in
stealing as much from Glenn Beck as possible.

The social expiriment seeks to answer the following questions.
• is it beer or booze that turns me into a juvenile asshole?
• does wine make my desire to smoke cigarettes as strong as beer does?
• is the hangover different?
• is "medic" really the best outdoor drinking game ever?
•what is the difference between a $12 bottle and a $12 jug of wine?
• are there sexual side effects? (good or bad)

I am sure that there will be room for other side projects during the
test process.

ok great.

Nudashank

So I just went to knit wit at nudashank gallery. All work involving
knitting and thread and other softeeees. The space is quickly becoming
one of my favorites in Baltimore.
These pics are a few highlights for me.

New work installed at Arlington arts center

Here are some images of this work installed at the Arlington Arts
Center in Arlington VA. This show runs through Nov 7 2009.

Fall Events

Good afternoon everyone,

I hope your summer has been pleasant. This is the fall update for things I am involved with.

Things went very well with the residency at the Jackson county Green Energy Park. The work that I made there will be At Arlington Art Center As a part of their fall solo exhibitions. The opening for this is Friday sept 11 from 6 -9 pm. I am particularly excited because the solos this fall are almost all sculpture, If you live in DC and are a fan of that type of thing I highly reccomend checking it out.

http://www.arlingtonartscenter.org/fall-solos-2009

Also in DC, I will have work in the 6th Transformer benefit auction, November 7 2009 at the Mexican Cultural Institute. Details are still developing on this one, but it sounds like fun.

In Baltimore, Two pieces are on display as a part of the exhibition Hunter Gatherer. August 24 through September 25, 2009: Hunter Gatherer. The Galleries at CCBC, Catonsville. Hunter Gatherer features works made by foraging, stalking or collecting discarded materials. Like urban manifestations of the mythical "noble savage," these artists combine elemental processes with contemporary skills and concepts. Reception: Friday, September 25 from 6 to 8 pm. Curators, Paul Glasgow and Sarada Conaway.

Lastly if you are in NY, I will have a few pieces in the exhibit Ferrous Bloom, the Nature of Iron. Curated by coral lambert, It will be in the Fosdick Nelson Gallery as a part of Alfred University Meltdown Casting Symposium.

October 30 – December 2
Opening reception: Friday, October 30th, 7-9 PM:

Christian Benefiel, Laurence Edwards, Andy Griffiths, Ginny Hutchinson, Marjee Levine, Carolyn Ottmers, Vaughn Randall
Curated by Coral Lambert

http://fosdicknelson.alfred.edu/exhibits/ferrous-calendar.html

Ok great, hope to see you all soon.

Teaching

I am teaching a drawing class at Montgomery college this fall. For
those that know me you know that this is what I have wanted to do for
a good portion of my life. There is a lot of HR bullshit going on, but
I guess that that is the nature of the beast.

Newer work

New work

More pressers

http://www.maconnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5236&Itemid=85

www.christianbenefiel.com

A little starter fluid, open the choke and here we go!

So shell toes Shelton has eccomended I dust off the old bloggy blog
and tell folks what is happening. So here we go.

This is a review of a show I had in Baltimore
http://www.citypaper.com/arts/story.asp?id=18459