Posts Tagged ‘Big Car’

Pepsi Refresh Project

Sunday, June 5th, 2011

Some of you reading this may already know about Pepsi Refresh…for those of you that don’t it’s basically this project where Pepsi is giving away millions of dollars to fund different projects that “refresh the world”. The non-profit arts organization I’m a part of Big Car, is trying to get $25,000 to help transform the Lafayette Square area by opening a community creativity space in an abandoned Firestone Tire Service Center. The space will be called Service Center for Contemporary Culture and Community. “Service Center is a community art center designed to spark real change in an area of Indianapolis poised for amazing improvement. Through creative approaches, Service Center addresses many of the issues facing Indianapolis: education, mass transit, art and culture, diversity, libraries, urban gardening, recycling, and economic development.” Receiving this monetary gift from Pepsi would help a lot of our ideas become a reality.

It only takes a little bit of effort, a little bit of time to contribute to change and improve an area of Indianapolis that could really use it. Spread the word about Service Center and the Pepsi Refresh project. Vote, not once, but every day. Make it a habit just like getting on Facebook has become a daily habit for most of us. In the end if we win, you can say you helped. You can say you made a difference. Let’s continue to make this city better than the day before.

 

Here’s what our Executive Director Jim Walker had to say about the project…

 

“How cool would it be to get Pepsi to fund programs at the new Service Center for Culture and Community? Music, art, education, urban gardening, community building. It’s all happening at Service Center — all in the Lafayette Square neighborhood that will really benefit from this boost. And you can help Service Center receive $25,000 from Pepsi, just by voting daily online.

We feel really good about our chances. We are in 13th place now and the top 15 receive funding. But we have a long, long way to go!

Vote at: http://www.refresheverything.com/servicecenter and text to vote by sending 106734 to 73774. You can vote twice by logging on via Facebook too.
Here are some tips on how you can help:

In order to receive the money from Pepsi, we need be one of the top 15 vote recipients in this month’s Pepsi Refresh voting cycle. You can help us by voting every day in June! Here’s how:

LOGIN WITH FACEBOOK – Go to http://www.refresheverything.com/servicecenter . At the bottom of the page, on the left, click on “sign in”. Then click on the “Login with Facebook” logo. Click on the “Vote for this” bubble. Come back daily and vote!
SIGN IN WITH PEPSI – First you must get a Pepsi account. (Don’t worry, they won’t send you any e-mails unless you check the boxes at the bottom.) Go to http://www.refresheverything.com/servicecenter . At the bottom of the page, on the left, click on “sign in”. At the bottom of the sign in window, click on “sign up”. Go back to http://www.refresheverything.com/servicecenter . Click on the “Vote for this” bubble. Come back daily and vote! If you have a Facebook login and a Pepsi login you can vote twice each day! Plus one more if you text.
TEXT TO VOTE: It’s easy and Pepsi doesn’t do spam texts or anything, ever. Just text 106734 to 73774 to vote for Service Center from your cell phone. You can text a vote every day.
POWER VOTES – You must be registered with Pepsi to use Power Votes. These are codes printed on yellow bottle caps found on 20 ounce and 2 liter bottles of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Pepsi Max. Codes are also printed on the inside of specially marked multi-pack cartons. Once you have the codes, go to http://www.refresheverything.com/servicecenter and sign in. Click on Power Vote and enter UP TO TEN Power Vote codes daily. Each cap is good only once, but you can enter 10 different caps. The number of votes you get per code is randomly selected, but each code can be worth up to 100 votes. NOTE: People who bring more than 10 used Power Vote caps will receive a thank you work of art from a Big Car artist.
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD – contact your friends, co-workers and relatives via Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, whatever, and ask them to PLEASE vote every day for Big Car and Service Center! We have to be in the top 15 in the $25,000 category to get the Pepsi grant. We feel great about our chances.
Also… we are rolling this into a larger fundraising campaign that will continue over the summer. Here are the details:

Service Center Community Capital Campaign

The nonprofit arts organization Big Car is launching a summer-long campaign to raise funds for programs at Service Center for Contemporary Culture + Community, a new 11,500 square foot creativity-based community center with a communal garden on top of its front parking lot. Open since May and rolling out in phases, Service Center is dedicated to helping improve the Lafayette Square neighborhood. And Service Center will become a grassroots hub for art, culture, education, mass transit and diversity in the heart of Indianapolis. Service Center is also a base of operations for the nonprofit creative writing and educational organization Second Story and will house performances and programs by various other arts and community groups.

You can support the future of Service Center by:
• voting for the project here: http://www.refresheverything.com/servicecenter each day in June.
• making tax-deductible a donation to Big Car via paypal here: http://tinyurl.com/bigcar2011
• mailing a tax-deductible donation via check payable to Big Car at Service Center 3919 Lafayette Rd. Indianapolis IN 46254

You can follow Service Center on Facebook to keep track of the latest news here: http://www.facebook.com/servicecenterindy

Thanks!
Jim

As a 501c3 nonprofit, Big Car sparks creative ideas and produces cultural events and projects that help make Indianapolis a better place. Watch a short video about Big Car at www.vimeo.com/20358886.”

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As of late…

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

I’ve been wanting to post the recent happenings and just keep finding myself distracted from sitting down to update. Not only have I been keeping busy with the weekly contest giveaway on this site, Free Work Wednesday, but I have also been participating in more events with the wonderful people over at Big Car. They come up with some of the most creative and just plain fun events around the city and it’s usually for a greater cause such as inspiring kids to write, raising awareness to the diverse cultures that are in Indianapolis, stimulating nature park attendance, etc. and the list goes on. To stay up to date and informed about events around the city that Big Car and friends are participating in, please visit Big Car’s website.

One such event was held at the Indiana History Center last Tuesday called Jabberwocky. It was an event where the public could sample Indiana craft beers and listen to stories from brewers, bartenders, historians, and drinkers. It was presented by Storytelling Arts of Indiana and was part of the Spirit & Place Festival. There was also a special Beer Drinking Sonata performed by members of Big Car. The concept was from a book by artist Tom Marinoi entitled “Beer, Art and Philosophy. We even had the audience help with the second performance as we walked in and mingled with the crowd. It was a lot of fun and something I’m sure the audience had never seen/participated in before.

Big Car after the Beer Drinking Sonata at the Indiana History Center

(photo by Big Car)

I also recently submitted a piece to my first zine ever. I don’t really know many people in the zine culture but it is something that I always appreciated from afar. My friend Danielle gave me a heads up on a call for submissions for Rebel Doll #2 created by Miss Jane. Luckily, she let my piece in issue #2 and of course I’m stoked. You should check out the website for instructions on how to get one. She is also putting them around town at different shops and venues so keep your eyes on the lookout! Thanks again Miss Jane!

Cover of Rebel Doll #2 zine

“Monkey Claire” original                        “Monkey Claire” monochrome

“Monkey Claire” in Rebel Doll #2 zine

I was also lucky enough to be a part of “The Chicken Show” at the Wheeler Arts Community. “The Chicken Show” was a chicken themed art and poetry show. There were also live chickens there as well as journalist, humorist and author Michael Perry who gave a readings from his books “Coop: A Family, a Farm, and the Pursuit of One Good Egg”, “Population 485″, and others. It was a wonderful and entertaining reading. Michael is a great story teller who made me laugh out loud on numerous occasions.

When I was offered to be a part of “The Chicken Show” it was right around the time the photos of mechanically separated chicken were circulating around the internet. I have also watched my fair share of documentaries portraying the horrible living conditions of most chickens that pass through the industry food system. The umbrella “chicken” was a big one but I knew I wanted to address these specific issues because I believe in animal rights, ethical treatment of animals, food safety, etc. etc. etc.

I started out with wanting to portray in my own way, through collage, the inhumane living conditions in the chicken rearing sheds. Even chickens who are “cage free” still walk over there dead friends, piles of feces, and never see daylight. I recall seeing a particular chicken farmer on Food Inc. who had the older style rearing sheds with the screens for walls so the chickens could get nice fresh air and also enjoy what every living creature needs to be happy, sunlight. Unfortunately for her, the company who she raised chickens for wanted her to upgrade to fully enclosed shelters. She refused and was ultimately shut down for not complying. So I chose to place the paper chickens on top of each other just as they are in the rearing sheds. After covering the entire canvas with approx. 700+ hand cut paper chickens, I painted over most of them in darkness to allude the lack of sunlight the animals see throughout their life.

“Which came first: the mechanically separated chicken or the nugget?”

Not stopping there, I chose Glaser’s I Love New York image as a reference for my piece. I thought to myself, what’s more symbolic of America’s pop culture than the I Love New York design and chicken nuggets? I’m sure you can think of a few others, but that’s not the point. So instead of I (heart) NY, I chose I (heart) CN – chicken nuggets. We do. We love chicken nuggets. I replaced the traditional red heart with a pink goo filled one. That pink goo representing mechanically separated chicken. I then made the pristine white letters look dirty just like the once clean, white feathers of the chickens that are quickly soiled in their rearing sheds.

Think about how many chicken nuggets are consumed in the United States alone each year. Now think about how many you’ve eaten. Now wonder how many consisted of mechanically separated chicken. I’m sure we’ve all eaten it at one time or another without knowing. Luckily, the FDA now enforces the disclosure of the use of mechanically separated chicken in food products. Go and test it out. Slim Jims, bologna, really cheap ‘lunch meat’, some pepperoni, etc. is all made with mechanically separated chicken. You know the leftovers. The pink puree of eyeballs, tendons, and organs.

One breed. One shape. One taste.

Why aren’t my nuggets pink you might ask? Well, you wouldn’t eat pink chicken nuggets first of all. Second of all, because this pink goo is crawling with bacteria it is given an ammonium bath. No more bacteria. MMMM, ammonium. Now it tastes awful because of the ammonium so it’s injected with artificial flavoring to mask the taste. They are still pink so then the nuggets are injected with artificial flavoring. See. All better. Delicious 99 cent nuggets.

“Which came first: the mechanically separated chicken or the nugget?” – collage, ink, spray paint, shellac, oil paint, caulking, glue on canvas mounted on hand built poplar frame – 26″ x 30″ – 2010

I know many of you are probably wanting me to stop preaching. For those of you who are unfortunate enough to know me personally, you know that I am very passionate. I try to make most of my art around humor but sometimes serious issues and my world views do creep in. It is inevitable. I usually don’t have deep, thought provoking concepts that I start with when creating a piece. The concept usually comes afterward as a pleasant realization. I apologize for the novel but I felt it was important to try to explain what this latest piece means to me and why I created it. I didn’t think I would make a piece about chickens but thanks to Kevin I know have one.

It has been a super busy past couple of weeks and I’m sure I have forgotten something. If I remember I will post something about it later. Thanks again for tuning in and don’t forget to spread the word!

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Test Fest 2010 – Part Two

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

“The Grass Isn’t Always Greener On The Other Side”- 2010

tree branches, sticks, bark, dead grass, vines, 2 metal posts, metal wire fencing

approx. 7′ x 25′

First off, I want to thank everyone who made Test Fest 2010 possible and also everyone who came out to support the wonderful event. I had a lot of fun creating my installation as well as seeing all the other artists make some truly amazing environmental works. There was even a little girl there who made her own installation! It was pretty cool to see that.

Luckily, I had enough time to finish my installation and also walk around a little bit to check out the rest of the works. I was pleasantly surprised at the variety considering we were limited to only using materials found in the park i.e. sticks, leaves, dirt, rocks, etc. We can definitely mark Test Fest 2010 as a success. It was the first event ever held at Skiles Test Nature Park and visitors expressed their enjoyment as well as their hopes for more events in the future.

If you weren’t able to make it, don’t worry. There should be a show coming up with photos, video, etc. from Test Fest 2010. This will give you a chance to see documentation of all the artists’ works in progress and the final product. If you did go to Test Fest 2010 and you took any photographs or video, be sure to email those to Jim Walker at jim@made4.org if you want them in the upcoming exhibition. I will have more info on that show in the future. Stay tuned.

Also, if you didn’t already see it, check out the first post about Test Fest 2010.

“My idea for my installation was to create a man made barrier or wall from natural objects i.e. sticks, grass, weeds, vines, etc. The view is very scenic over looking the grass field toward the interstate and I wanted to obstruct that view. I found a really interesting tree limb on the ground that had an oval created by the smaller branches on the limb. I positioned that in the wall as a peep hole for the scenic view. I only have part of the structure built so far. I will continue to add tree branches for the skeleton of the wall and then fill in all the void space with dead field grasses, smaller sticks, etc. I want it to be a solid wall except for the small peephole located in the middle of the wall.” – I just quoted myself…can you do that?

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Test Fest 2010

Friday, October 15th, 2010

This Saturday is Test Fest 2010! Located at Skiles Test Nature Park on the northeast side of Indianpolis, the event will take place from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. There will be 13 artists participating including myself. Each artist will be creating temporary art installations at the park from materials only found in the Skiles Test Park. It is free to the public and visitors will be able to help some of the artists with their work including myself. If you want to come help me create, please do so. The location of my piece is on the map below.

My idea for my installation was to create a man made barrier or wall from natural objects i.e. sticks, grass, weeds, vines, etc. The view is very scenic over looking the grass field toward the interstate and I wanted to obstruct that view. I found a really interesting tree limb on the ground that had an oval created by the smaller branches on the limb. I positioned that in the wall as a peep hole for the scenic view. I only have part of the structure built so far. I will continue to add tree branches for the skeleton of the wall and then fill in all the void space with dead field grasses, smaller sticks, etc. I want it to be a solid wall except for the small peephole located in the middle of the wall.

Beginnings of the structure for my wall

The peephole in the wall to view the beautiful field

This is my first time creating ‘earth art’ or any type of art that is this ephemeral. I feel many artists including myself make art to last, to hang on walls forever. An artist invests a lot of time, talent, and energy into a work and it’s sometimes painful to see it be destroyed. But for other artists including street artists, they relish in the short lived lives of their work as it deteriorates back into the natural landscape of the city or the country. I find this fascinating and hope to practice more of that type of art. Invest in something and set it free. Test Fest is a wonderful opportunity to for me as an artist view my art in other possible contexts. I hope my piece gets finished in the way I have planned. Come out Saturday and find out if I make it happen!

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Leaf Collective

Monday, September 20th, 2010

This Wednesday, September 22, I will be a part of The Big Car Collective performance group ‘Pharm Accident’. We will be performing at the IMA’s 100 Acres visitor center to celebrate the fall equinox. If it does rain, we will be performing the next night on Thursday September 23. The performance starts at 7 pm and is free to the public. It should be a lot of fun. I will be one of 8 music stations paired up with ‘movers’ or dancers. I will be creating noise with my circuit bent distortion pedal plus some delay. There will be a wide variety of instruments and sounds happening as well as a variety of movements inspired by these sounds. Each station will represent a leaf. Whenever that persons leaf is projected dictates when they will play. I guess it can be compared to free improvisation/free music except there are a few variables that we must take into account. I’ve never taken part in such an event so I am definitely excited. Big Car‘s write up is as follows. You can also read what the Indianapolis Museum of Art has to say about the performance.

Here is a clip of what my setup will sound like.

Don’t worry. Not all the music/noise stations will sound as hateful as mine.

“The Big Car Collective’s eight-plus person music ensemble, Pharm Accident, will join eight movers to perform a free spontaneous music and dance concert at 7 p.m. on Sept. 22 at the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s 100 Acres visitors center. This is all in a free celebration of the fall equinox. So start the season right with some unusual sounds controlled by projected leaf images. It’s hard to explain but easy to enjoy. You only need to show up, listen, watch, and enjoy.”

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