Coast to Coast

I've been bouncing back & forth, between NY & CA, all year. I just returned to the west coast but am about to make the east my more full-time residence--real estate market woes notwithstanding! Meanwhile, some east/west notes & shout outs...

While back east I had a busy schedule, but most enjoyed some great music at Darmstadt, videos from Aurora Picture Show at Monkeytown, and performances at Free103's Wave Farm. I also went to a Creative Capital retreat, which put the 'treat' in retreat! They are doing *amazing* things to support artists and the weekend was a rare chance to see/hear presentations from a few dozen great artists. Because they gave grants in 'emerging fields' (which includes new media), I already knew a lot of artists who were there, but I also had a chance to learn about new people I might not ordinarily seek out or hear about, which was great. I hate to play favorites, but the ones I find myself really thinking about, at the moment, are Hasan Elahi, Christian Hawkey, Danny Hoch, Locust, Ruben Ochoa, Sheryl Oring, Kerry Skarbakka, and Allison Wiese.

Back on the west coast, a shout out to LA's Fringe Exhibitions gallery, who are currently showing Abe & Mo Sing the Blogs. It's nice to see it get some play outside of the Whitney. (Of course, it's all online, so you can view it from the coast or landlocked state of your choice...) This week is jam-packed with fun stuff in San Jose, at ISEA2006. I was on lots of committees for this one and worked quite a bit on the planning, early on, especially while I was still curator at Zero1, so I'm excited to see it come to fruition. I've also been helping out the fine folks at Neighborhood Public Radio. Check them out! And, most excitingly, I'll also be cruising in a limo, sipping champagne, and evaluating artists' pitches, as part of C5's verrrry cool Quest For Success project. Can't wait!

I hope everyone's having a nice summer. I'm working on a bunch of new new new video, music, and blog projects... Stay tuned!