Margot Bird

NOISE: An Art Show at The Black Lodge

artbybird — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 05:55:39 +0000

A Collaboration between Margot Bird and Nils Petersen to bring a visual revolution to The Black Lodge and to let The Black Lodge bring noise to a visual revolution

Details to come
www.thestateofbeingcombinedintoonebody.wordpress.com

My Abbreviated Version of 2012 Chinese New Year Horoscopes

artbybird — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:14:05 +0000

Abbreviated 2012 Chinese Horoscopes

Rat
(if you were born in 1900, 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008)
Career: good
Romance: not so good
Health: poor

Ox
(if you were born in 1901, 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009)
Career: Stressful
Romance: No Time
Health: accident prone

Tiger
(if you were born in 1902, 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010)
Everything about 2012 will be GREAT

Rabbit
(if you were born in 1903, 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011)
Career: okay
Romance: so-so
Health: weak

Dragon
(if you were born in 1904. 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012)
Everything is fantastic for you this year, you lucky devil

Snake
(if you were born in 1905, 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001)
Career: fine
Romance: lonely… but you’ll have good friends
Health: kind of sickly

Horse
(if you were born in 1906, 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002)
Career: you will become mega-popular
Romance: so popular
Health: some sort of injury will occur

Goat
(if you were born in 1907, 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003)
Career: kind of ill – unless you focus on teamwork, then its pretty good
Romance: complicated
Health: good/lucky

Monkey
(if you were born in 1908, 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004)
Career: Intelligent and popular
Romance: very, very good – unless you’re married
Health: don’t get in any fights!

Rooster:
(if you were born in 1909, 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005)
Career: real good
Romance: calm
Health: average with a surgery

Dog
(if you were born in 1912. 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006)
Tough times this year, all around

Pig
(if you were born in 1911, 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007)
Career: yes
Romance: yes
Health: neglectful

***

This is something I did for fun from notes I had taken. I, somehow, found myself looking up my chinese horoscope for the year, which turned into an obsessive quest to know what every other animal had in store for themselves.

The Works and Perspectives of Margot Bird: The Capitol Hill Times 2/1/2012

artbybird — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:46:09 +0000

http://www.capitolhilltimes.com/the-works-and-perspectives-of-margot-bird/

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

The works and perspectives of Margot Bird

By Daniel Burnett
- The Capitol Hill Times -

For the last four and a half years Margot Bird has been immersing herself in the Seattle art scene; granting a gritty and direct perspective to 20th century surrealism. Her visual depictions include animal and human figures in various mutations including transmogrify and disembodiment, and frequently occurring clusters of eyeballs.

Bird spent her earlier years drawing obsessively in Wisconsin. She explained the activity as something that came very naturally to her. There wasn’t a standout circumstance or guiding force other than an internal drive to create visual art.

In the early 2000s a friend gave her a collection of canvases, which turned out to be the catalyst for her continuing passion. After a couple weeks the walls of her apartment were plastered with original works. She kept the momentum high, displaying her work at various venues in Wisconsin before leaving.

She picked up where she had left off upon her arrival in Seattle in October 2007. Bird quickly made herself known and was featured at the Pratt Gallery in addition to presenting a solo exhibit at the Faire Gallery and Café during 2008. Her presence has been escalating ever since.

During her years of being an active Seattle artist she has seen many changes in the scene. More and more venues are opening themselves up to art exhibits on Capitol Hill and public attendance has been growing. Not only has local enthusiasm increased but the active hub of the art scene in Seattle has essentially moved to a new location.

“I [don’t just think but] know that the art scene has gone from Pioneer Square to the Hill,” Bird said.

She describes the conceptual voice behind her art as being reflective of events in her past. The clusters of eyeballs that frequently appear in her work are reminiscent of a hallucination she had in New Orleans when receiving acupuncture on her ears.

In many ways her work reflects a near psychedelic form of perception. The backgrounds sharpen and appear up-front in her work, which contains highly vivid figures, while deepening in more eerily dreamy pieces such as “In Three.” The figures themselves seem to display trends in their demeanor; the animal figures are often ferocious or overbearing, while the human figures tend to present a vapid serenity.

She is currently in the process of diversifying the artworks she produces and incorporating more mediums into her portfolio. Bird is specifically interested in furthering her work with installation pieces. The practice of broadening her scope is an activity that she finds challenging, though very rewarding and intrinsically important to a creative mind.

Her efforts will be exemplified at an upcoming showcase exhibit at the Black Lodge. The event will feature a merger and hybridization of her installation work and paintings with a particular focus on the reoccurring eyeball motif. There are also plans to incorporate music as an accompaniment to her display.

Bird is no stranger to the union of music and visual art. She frequently listens to music while creating her artworks and claims to gain inspiration from what she listens to. In 2009 Bird went on tour with drony metal band Lozen, during which time she watched their live shows and began designing and creating their album cover.

On her tour with Lozen she came into contact with Kelie Bowman of the art collective “Cinders Gallery” from New York. Their initiative, approach and diverse work engaged Bird and she said she is very interested in collaborating with the collective in the future.

There are also a number of local artists that Bird has expressed interest in working with. Brian Standeford (winner of the City Arts Art Walk Award), Aaron Frost, Shawn Cartel, Troy Gua and Emily Pothast are all vibrant local artists that Bird specifically mentioned.

“Who I want to work with is a tough question for me because I’m searching for like minds… Adair Tudor and Daniel Enders I can relate to, work that is not packaged too carefully,” Bird said.

She currently has hangings in four separate locations at Ghost Gallery, Victrola (Pike street) and The In on Capitol Hill, and at The Sweater Factory in Ballard. Bird’s installation at The Sweater Factory is currently her most time consuming project, involving workshops and public attendance.

The installation involved hanging Bonsai plants in structural accompaniment with backdrops and arches. Bird’s involvement extended beyond her artwork, including hosting workshops and being present for the duration of the exhibit. The installation was only visible from Jan 28-29 as a part of the Onn/Of Festival.

“It has to do with using light…and that is what I’m teaching at the workshops,” Bird said.

She is very conscious of keeping her work fresh and original, both for herself and the public. All her current hangings are purposefully planned to show different stylistic displays at each location.

Bird mentioned that she means to step out of the limelight for a couple months. Her focus will be on less frequent events that are larger in scale. She says that she plans to continue involving herself in the Vermillion Art Fair that occurs every first Thursday of the month, and will assuredly remain a veritable presence in the local art scene.

Installation for ONN/OF

artbybird — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 08:43:23 +0000

ONN/OF ~ a festival of light

January 28th & 29th, 2012

Curator Sierra Stinson, critic Jim Demetre, and artist Susan Robb have turned an 11,000 sq. ft warehouse into a radiating experience with art installations, pop-up shops, music, workshops, and performances that all relate in some way or another to the theme of ‘light.’

I have been asked to add to this bright weekend via the creatively cool indoor plant store I work at, The Palm Room. Therefore, I have created a living sculpture, Bonsai In The Aviary, which uses the photosynthetic necessity of plants as a connection to the theme.
Bonsai In The Aviary is a suspended chunk of nature that exhibits Kokedama (“moss ball”) bonsai and has a playful allusion to the relationships between nature and humans, nature and birds, and humans and birds.

The Palm Room will be leading a Kokedama workshop!
Saturday Jan 28th from 4pm – 7pm
Sunday Jan 29th from noon – 4pm

It takes about 30 – 45 minutes to kokedama a plant. The workshop is $25 and includes all materials (moss, soil, twine, plant, etc) and instruction. Stop by our table anytime during the hours above and we will show you how to make one.

LOCATION: The Sweater Factory
1415 NW 52st, Ballard, Seattle.

directly across from the Bardahl Oil sign
(enter through the back alley)

************************************************************************************************************
To learn more about The Palm Room: www.thepalmroom.wordpress.com

To learn more about ONN/OF: www.onnof.us

setting up

Installation for the group show at the In Arts NW SEATTLE

artbybird — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:42:02 +0000

This is a small installation at The In Arts NW that I did for the group show ‘Touch Art, String Art, & Videos’

January 2012 (Seattle WA)

The Origin of Your Youth (my addition to the Touch Art)

Wild Wild

Manhattan, I Want You To Eat Me Alive

Rad Sh*t – my first gif

artbybird — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:41:02 +0000

Rad Sh*t – String Talents. Shaun Kardinal and more

artbybird — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:11:38 +0000

Creating an installation out of something as simple as a ball of string, yarn, or thread to weave an environment that is so much more powerful than that common craft ingredient can be brilliant.

Naum Gabo was brilliant.

I saw this piece in the Contemporary Art wing at the Portland Museum of Art last October. I was mesmerized.

Here is a Seattle artist, Shaun Kardinal, making gorgeous weaves on vintage postcards.

I also dig these,

{La Finale Fantastique] A Gabriel Dawe installation:

Rad Sh*t – Seattle Artist! Rumi Koshino

artbybird — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:08:01 +0000

Rumi Koshino is currently a Seattle artist and has exhibited her work at the Nepo house, Gage Academy, and SOIL, among other great collaborative spaces.
The work she does is a series of self portraits in the form of installations and drawings. There is a beautiful rhythm to the installations and great raw energy in her drawings.

Take a look at her website for more! www.rumikoshino.com

Rumi Koshino, 2008

Some Songs Have No Words, 2011

Some Songs Have No Words, detail, 2011

Rad Sh*t – Ed Paschke & The Art Institute of Chicago’s Modern Wing

artbybird — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 08:00:13 +0000

First off, the new Modern Wing at The Art Institue of Chicago is fantastic. Every floor gives you a taste of modern art, making a visit to this art museum a most exciting experience. On the second floor, a visitor sees an exhibit of Paschke’s oil paintings.

What was remarkable about my particular experience with this sampling of his work was that just the day before I had been first introduced to his neon, modernistic, pop paintings at the ‘Chicago Imagists’ exhibit at the Madison Area Museum of Modern Art (MAMOCA, which is free to the public (!))

somewhat unprofessional, illegal? video from the Art Institute

Installation for the Bad for Jazz HAPPENING at the Josephine SEATTLE

artbybird — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:47:12 +0000

On December 17th, the Seattle improv art group Bad for Jazz (headed by Rachel LeBlanc and Justin Legg) hosted an event filled with art installations, projected visuals, music, and influential treats.

The hush, hush art show featured extended improv sets by Jon Carr (of Brain Fruit) Sten Skoggen ( David Golightly, Garek Jon Dross, and Aubrey Nehring) and Sissy Fist Did (Jason Smothers of Are you a cat?) and VISUALS by Adair Tudor, Rachel LeBlanc, Veronica Smith, and me.

Margot Bird, Zipper Painting, canvas 1

Margot Bird, Zipper Painting, canvas 2

Margot Bird, Zipper Painting, canvas 3

Margot Bird, Zipper Painting, canvas 4