STILL
October 1 – October 10, 2010
Reception: Friday, October 1st 5 – 9PM
Lone Fir Cemetery — SE Morrison Street, Portland, OR
(entrance on SE 26th between Stark and Morrison Streets — Bus riders, use Line 15)
Jacomijn Schellevis and Micki Skudlarczyk are fascinated by death. Their passion is not painted with a macabre brush, but laid down by the beauty of burial, its quietude of organic process and its significance in world culture. Jacomijn and Micki met in Mexico as artists-in residence. After realizing they had a mutual attraction to the nature of death and experiencing firsthand the beauty and all-embracing Dia De Los Muertos, they should collaborate.
In 2009, a well-received series of installations called “Origin-Oorsprong” were placed in the Netherlands-where Jacomijn calls home. “Origin-Oorsprong” was based on Pagan burial rituals native to the culture in the Netherlands pre-Christianity. They are now placing a second installation with the gracious cooperation of Lone Fir cemetery- aptly named “Still”.
On October 1st, there will be a sculpture of fairy-tale proportions built of a crystallized sugar solution on the cemetery grounds. “Still” invites the public to come celebrate the beauty of life and its inevitable process; the edible sugary installation will be slowly dismantled by people who want to take a piece of this art with them. Eat it, shrine it or do with it as you please, the rest will be a natural, symbolic disintegration into the soil and vegetation-the sweetness of life dissolving into the earth to shapeshift into evidence of life repeating itself into a subtle eternal fractal of gentle beauty.
The human experience of this installation is a launching platform for Alicia Blue Gallery’s full transition to an alternative art space. “Still” will be the trailhead of a manifold series of non-traditional experiential shows with the freedom to display more complex aesthetics and ideas that eliminate the necessity of a brick-and mortar space. Keep tuned into ABG’s website for new shows and excellent visual blog updates on more amazing artists, documentaries and exhibitions.
Sponsors:
Lone Fir Cemetery
Metro
J. Douglas Macy
OHSU
