@ Open Space
2720 Sisson Street
Baltimore, MD

Speedism is the duo Julian Friedauer (Germany), and Pieterjan Ginckels
(Belgium). Speedism works at the borders of architecture, architectural
theory, visual arts, visual theory, urban tactics, imagineering, and
scriptwriting. As visual artists and architects, Speedism develops visual
universes, theoretical landscapes, denkräume, narratives and scenarios.

www.speedism.net

B more B green is a traveling sustainability exhibit developed jointly by the architectural firm of Hord Coplan Macht, S.H. Silverblatt Electrical Contractor, Silsam Energy Group and Baltimore Green Works. Through a unique combination of three-dimensional and interactive displays, the exhibit teaches children about the important concepts underlying sustainable living practices while facilitating a fun learning experience for everyone.  Samuel Silverblatt, president of Silsam Energy Group, created the original vision for the exhibit. Tarek Saleh and Lisa Ferretto have brought Hord Coplan Macht’s considerable expertise in sustainable technologies and design to the project.  Phase 1, expected to open Earth Day, April 22, 2010 at Port Discovery, consists of a 4 interactive exhibits teaching about water, waste, transportation and energy.  Information on tax-deductible Sponsorship opportunities can be found at www.bmorebgreen.com/pdf/sponsorship.pdf and more information on the project at www.bmorebgreen.com.

They are looking for ways to spread the word and bring in funding.  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! 

Phase 1 of the exhibit will be interactive displays at Port Discovery Children’s Museum. The exhibit will stay at  Port Discovery for about 5 months, and will then move to the Maryland State Fair in Timonium, where the [B]house will be added. The [B] House will be a replica house complementing the interactive displays and will provide an opportunity to display energy efficient products, recyclable material, etc.  Phase  3 is still under development, but  the exhibit could travel through the fall and spring to local schools, Museums, Home Depot stores etc.

“Love & Heartbreak: new works by Katy Keefe and Samuel Payne” opens at The Metro Gallery on 14 January 2010 and runs though 27 February 2010. Intensely personal and layered with texture, Keefe’s paintings, drawings and photographs are inspired by the romantic, Payne’s violent installations and works-on-paper by heartbreak and scorn. Despite the immediate contradictory nature of the two perspectives, the works are thematically united under the auspices of passion, devotion and enlightenment. Using totems and hero worship, Keefe glorifies while Payne simultaneously destroys. The dense works of the two artists are aesthetically complex compositions constructed meticulously of accumulating detail and narratives. The work is both genuinely personal and universally metaphorical. Keefe and Payne utilize their joint belief in the constant presence of separation and division to establish a dialogue regarding heaven and hell, the dichotomy of brokenness, and the question of power and rule in daily life. “Love & Heartbreak” is an exhibition of journeys, failures, enlightenment, and common experience.

Katy Keefe is a Chicago artist working in painting, drawing and installation. Her new Love series comes from recent enlightenment that begins with a singular person and extends to an entire population. Drawing on patterns of hope, growth and defeat, they address the truth self: one that can be filled with struggle while simultaneously projecting true love. Her brightly colored paintings are a kaleidoscope of plant life, earthy soils, depictions of her recent lover and natural psychedelic experiences found in the woods. These works exist to inspire, awe and transport. The Love series is a reconfigured reality lush with stimulation.

Samuel Payne is a Seattle-based artist working in painting, video, and installation. His new Heartbreak series takes the struggle of American ideals of lovesick cowboy notions and intermingles them with his own emotional turmoil. Traveling the American soil has become a vital aspect of Payne’s artistic process and manifests as a patchwork in his new work. Stacks of cowboy hats, heartbroken maidens, cacti, and narrative structures involving figures such as Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings and the like are a few of his inspirations. The Heartbreak series is constructed with a particular brand of airiness and humor, owing to Paynes’ uniquely complicated style.

The Doodle Collecting Project is asking interested individuals who have a history of making doodles to isolate and record their favorite doodle icons, notate the origins of these marks, how were used and how they may have interacted with other doodle forms. The Doodle Collecting Project will record as many specific doodle icons as possible. The results of this collecting process will be catalogued and posted on this photo sharing site that will be updated regularly.

Watch the collection grow, and submit your own, here.

The Current Gallery is leaving its 30 S. Calvert St. location, just a few steps ahead of the demolition crews. True to form, the gallery is accepting site-specific proposals for its last show, Abandon Ship, right up until the final moment. And, according to this City Paper story, they plan to shoot video of the demolition this fall, in which all of the installed artwork will also be destroyed. The building will be gone, but the gallery won’t, the space’s founders are currently searching for a new location.

In advance of that, come to the show’s closing reception, this Saturday, August 8th, from 7-10 pm.