EAST-tastic
Six stops to make your 2012 East Austin Studio Tour extra special
By Robert Faires, Fri., Nov. 16, 2012
E2 – line upon line percussion
Saturday, Nov. 17, 2pm, at Big Medium courtyard, 5305 Bolm #12
For almost an hour last week, new "Best of Austin" winners line upon line percussion charged the air around Big Medium with high-energy drumming and mind-blowingly complex rhythms. The masterful control and interplay of Adam Bedell, Cullen Faulk, and Matthew Teodori as they powered through modern compositions from Steve Reich's Drumming to Austinite Steven Snowden's A Man With a Gun Lives Here held dozens of art lovers transfixed. The set was such a hit that the trio's been invited back for another round this week. Chase it with Big Medium's group show, featuring great work by EAST founders Jana Swec, Shea Little, and Joseph Phillips, individually and collectively as Sodalitas.
E6 – Danger Derby
Saturday, Nov. 17, 6-11pm, at Blue Genie Art Industries, 916 Springdale
Leave it to the mad geniuses at Blue Genie to do Formula One one better with an Austin-style race full of art cars and daredevil action. On EAST's first weekend, they sold pinewood derby kits to those wanting to create their own fantastic little racer, and this week they'll send them barreling along a 20-foot-tall, 100-foot-long track lined with hazards in a no-rules contest. Providing the soundtrack to this automotive massacre is the Burger City DJ. Bonus draw: free drinks and the Blue Genie Invitational, a sensational group show with art by 30 outstanding local artists.
E7 – Hot Glass Cold Beer + EAST Auction
Saturday, Nov. 17, 7-9pm, at East Side Glass, 507 Calles
The East Side Glass Studio artists will host another of their regular glassblowing demos where the heat of the kiln is countered by cold beer – specifically, the World Beer Cup Gold Medal-winning suds of local craft brewery Hops & Grain. In addition, artwork will be auctioned, with all proceeds benefiting the East Austin Studio Tour.
E8 – EAST Appreciation Party
Saturday, Nov. 17, 7-11pm, at Tillery Park, 801 Tillery
Express your gratitude for the East Austin Studio Tour amid the open air and ample greenery of Tillery Park, the cluster of trailers and plant nursery adjacent to the bread-factory-turned-arts-compound on Tillery. Rubberneck magazine hosts live music by Rayon Beach, Pharaohs, and Dikes of Holland, while Nettie's Cloth & Ink provides live screen printing. Savor hearty wares from Micklethwait Craft Meats, and wash them down with award-winning brews from Hops & Grain. Suggested donation: $5.
H3 – Art Show/Model Show
Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 17-18, 3-5pm, at the Vortex, 2307 Manor Rd.
Several of the theatre artists in the company Paper Chairs (Boom for Real, Hillcountry Underbelly, Machinal) work as models for visual artists, and for EAST they're merging both worlds in a figurative art performance installation, where they pose and the public draws and paints them. Artists are encouraged to bring their supplies and easels and create portraits of Kelli Bland, Elizabeth Doss, Meghan Adriel Dwyer, Michelle Keffer, and Jorge Sermini. All levels are welcome. Saturday's session will be devoted to painterly poses (30 minutes to an hour), and Sunday's will be a mash-up of shorter poses (1-7 minutes) and longer.
H43 – Pop Creature
Sunday, Nov. 18, 5:30-8:30pm, at 2109 E. Cesar Chavez
Maison d'Etoile caps its EAST exhibit of work by taxidermy surrealist Hope Perkins and psychedelic doodler Bradley Wilkinson with a Dr. Sketchy's anti-art class that allows the two artists to collaborate after a fashion. They'll contribute to the outfit worn by Dr. Sketchy's host and model Amelia Foxtrot, complementing her deer antler headpiece by Doublespeak and wig by Coco Coquette. Supplies and drinks will be provided for those wishing to draw.
