Whartscape and Artscape 2009...and some other stuff.

I have a very crappy and ancient digital camera that I don't use very often but I have recently managed to fill up (it's not very hard - I only have room for about 34 pics). In saving the photos to my computer to free up space it occurred to me that it's been a few weeks since my last blog post so I might as well show them to you! Most of the photos were taken either last week at Whartscape - a local music festival - or Artscape - a huge art festival which conveniently takes place partially on the campus of my school and onward throughout the Station North neighborhood of Baltimore. I didn't really take these photos with the intention of telling a comprehensive story about either event so if you'd like more information I suggest typing "Whartscape 2009" or "Artscape 2009" into your search engine of choice.

Anyway, onward to the Photos!

Um, this first one is just a photo of text I liked from a poster in the Creative Alliance. It's been a few months since I was there but the picture was still on my camera so I thought I'd share.

Aaaand this second one is a 3-tiered, 5-layer carrot cake I made for Father's Day. I was sort of proud of myself.

And now on to Whartscape! I'll admit that I can't remember a lot of the bands names and my schedule is at my other home at the moment, but I do remember that these guys were awesome! Definitely checking them out later.

BEST BAG EVER!!! I definitely should have asked this girl about it.

Liked his hair.
Like her sweater (and she's really working that fanny pack!)

These guys were one of my favorites. Most of their songs were comprised of just humming and sounds with a few words here and there about living in the jungle. Something delightfully different in the middle of the day.

My friend and roommate, Meghan, wearing a skirt I am quite envious of.

Also I LOVE THIS DRESS! I guess I was feeling really shy or something that day, I don't know why I didn't talk to these strangers about what they were wearing...
Also, in this photo this girl is waiting for one of the delicious veggie burritos that were being sold inside the festival for $5 (not bad for something filling and homemade within 20 feet of the stages!). I believe I was enjoying my own when I got this shot.

Now on to Artscape! I'm in love with this necklace I saw at one of the vendors.

Here is my friend and sometimes roommate, Zac, standing in front of the crowd of people converging on the parking lot of Mount Royal Station, which is usually where MICA students go for sculpture and fibers classes. On this day, however, this is where everyone and their mom was going to see Cake play a free concert! Zac and I tried but we got there too late to sit or stand anywhere where we could possibly see the band. We tried sitting on this very steep grassy hill to the side of the building but I'm slightly allergic to grass and there were about 100 bugs per square foot up there so we decided to forget about it.

An amazing papier mache bunny sculpture and uni-bunny, apart of one of the awesome installations on the Charles Street bridge.

That night Zac, Meghan, our friend Kay, and I ended up at a show for a band called Telesma up on North Avenue. They had fire dancers and giant flag-wavers and and lots of people running around in wonderful trash bag and foil costumes we're pretty sure were made by Alzaruba (who has a great installation on the first floor of MICA's Fox building right now, by the way). We also ran into another of our friends, Kat, who was selling CD's for the band. It was a lot of fun!

The next day I took lots of photos of the art cars - one of my favorite parts of Artscape - but not before running into these guys!

These minotaurs and their disgruntled king were there to spread hype for Gründlehämmer, a production due to open this October by The Baltimore Rock Opera Society, an amazing thing I just learned exists. You can go to the website to see about ways of getting involved or for fundraiser info.

I also had my photo taken as apart of an installation on the windows of Baltimore's Penn Station. I actually didn't get to see my photo up on the window in person - this photo was not taken by me but by one of my classmates, Kyle, who posted it on Facebook. I'm in the second row from the top on the far left in the captain's hat with Meghan. Coincidentally (I guess?) we were arranged right next to Zoe, Kyle, and Samara, our fellow MICAns!

Now on to the art cars!

I've actually seen this one out on the road a few times.

This one is possibly my favorite this year. It's so romantic. Can't you just imagine how cool it would be to go cross country in this thing? The owner actually has a small bed in the back. You could just drive all day, sleep in the back, and weld on something new from every town you visited.

The Aloha car! I actually took a lot of photos of this one last year but the owners added some new things since then. She actually came up to me as I was looking at it and asked if I was interested in making an art car. I explained that, yes, I would very much like to but I have to learn how to drive first, and then buy a car. I asked her a lot about her inspiration and process. She said that she isn't necessarily obsessed with the beach in general, but when she was looking for a theme she thought it would be nice to feel as if one were at the beach everyday. She gets some good reactions from passerby in the city (she once got out of a parking ticket due to the car's shear awesomeness) but people really get into it when she takes it down to the beach. The castle is foam that a friend cut for her and the waves up front are carefully sculpted expanding foam (I know from experience that this is useful stuff but very tricky to handle. And it stays on your clothes forever....). The knick-knacks are just things she picks up in craft stores, dollar stores, and beach shops for really cheap. She's always on the lookout for new additions.

She told me that the fish on the glove compartment, here, came from a mobile she cut up.

And my big question - What adhesive does she use?
Shes says silicone does the trick. She let me pull on one of the shells on the roof and it holds on really well but it moves a little bit, which is important on a car since it expands and contracts in the heat and the cold of the outside. I did notice that some of her glass stones were falling off the edges of her car doors, though. I think maybe liquid nails might work better there on the harder surface. Another art car artist suggested that to me last year. I think it was the guy who did the Hand-y car, above.

The End!
(I don't know that little girl but she was so cute and I got tired of waiting around for people to get out of the picture)

Stay tuned for next time, when I might be posting some new work! Hold on to your socks!