Thomas Park

Were it not for being French...

2008-08-21T20:47:13Z

At this moment, I'm wearing grey wool trousers, slightly pointy shoes, a light blue shirt with a British collar and a grey sweater tied around my shoulders.

It occurs to me that I would look like a complete fucking asshole if it weren't for the fact that I have that funky hair, earrings, and ambiguously Asian thing going on.

What a busy month it's been

2008-08-11T18:24:23Z

The sake tasting tomorrow evening should be a lot of fun. If you missed the original post about the event, you can get details here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=33160426404

Art Walk this week was relatively quiet, but a good number of friends came by, which was great. I've working on so many things that I feel I haven't had much time to spend with friends. Should take a bit of a break in September.

Last night, I just finished haging another show at Poco Wine Bar, which is opening on Friday. I'll stop by tonight and take some photos. Peter, the owner of Poco, opened the bar for us since we unexpectedly had my friend Tim stop by for a brief layover in Seattle on his way home to DC. So, we had a nice little dinner @ Cactus followed by a private party @ Poco. I love my friends.

Christ

2008-08-09T05:23:24Z

Yesterday, Art Walk.

Sunday, hanging another show in Seattle, "Awake/Asleep"

Tuesday, sake tasting I'm hosting w/ Sake Nomi.

Saturday next week, opening for "Awake/Asleep"

The following weekend, a wine tasting I'm hosting with Poco Wine Bar and then I'm teaching a photography workshop.

And then there's all the in-between stuffs. Like my day job, and trying to find time to see my wife and friends.

A model I'll be testing with soon asked me "you're so busy! but this is all stuff you love, right?"

Yes and no. It's really nice to be exhibiting and having people enjoy my work! But I'm also looking forward to actually shooting again, rather than just working on marketing and promotion and stuff =)

Final opening - Blick zum Objekt @ Studio Brick

2008-08-06T03:22:41Z

Blick zum Objekt - Industry as Sacred Space

check out the July issue of the Seattle Sinner for print version of this image!

Hope to see some of you at Art Walk this Thursday!

Studio Brick
214 1st Ave S (between Washington and Main)
Lower Level Arcade
6 - 9 pm

If you caught Blick @ Artopia earlier this Summer, that was a preview installation (I only hung about 2/3 of the series), so please do come by Brick if you enjoyed the work.

I also have a related exhibit of environmental photographs opening next week at Poco Wine Bar. Will send out details shortly, but as ever, the best way to stay up to date with events is to subscribe to the mailing list: http://groups.google.com/group/studio-brick =)

Event timing

2008-08-05T02:38:13Z

I'm planning a couple of events at my humble studio while my industrial figure show is up, one of which is a sake tasting that I've tentatively scheduled for Tuesday the 12th.

However, it looks like my friend with the sake bar wouldn't be able to get away from his shop until 8pm.

For those of you who were interested in coming, how would that timing work out for you? Too late? Just right?

Thanks!

Quote of the day

2008-08-01T00:15:51Z

...in response to "what are your favourite iPhone 3G apps?"

I really like Google Reader on the iphone, but that’s
one of those old fashioned “websites” that you just “go to” 
instead of some fancy application.

On that note, what apps are you kids using (descriptions helpful!)

Pandora - streaming music with a learning algorithm, good for finding new choons
Jott - speech-to-text notepad, will transcribe your notes and also save an audio version; notes can also be accessed via web app

Model networking sites?

2008-07-21T23:20:16Z

What model / photographer networking sites are people using aside from Model Mayhem and One Model Place? Any others that you've found to be particularly worth checking out?

atfrost @ 2008-07-20T22:15:00

2008-07-21T05:17:28Z

Up at 7am,
set up the studio,
full multi-look photo shoot,
lunch,
another full photo shoot with different looks,
clean up studio,
home + shower,
hand-cooked steak dinner...

Sometimes I feel like I should wear a fucking cape.

In the works:

Thurs, August 7 - Art Walk @ Studio Brick
Tues, August 12 - Sake tasting w/ Sake Nomi @ Studio Brick
Fri, August 15 - Art opening @ Poco wine bar
Sat, August 23 - Wine tasting w/ Poco wine bar @ Studio Brick (take a break from Burning Man prep and enjoy a flight of summer wines and art!)

As ever, if you're interested in getting news of events:
http://groups.google.com/group/studio-brick

Sake Nomi: http://www.sakenomi.us
Poco Wine Bar: http://www.pocowineroom.com
And check out the Blick zum Objekt tear in this month's Seattle Sinner! http://www.theseattlesinner.com

atfrost @ 2008-07-17T21:43:00

2008-07-18T04:44:51Z

Huh. My iPod which I'd given up as dead has suddenly come back to life. I thought I'd give it one last try before chucking it and behold! It booted up.

Opening from Tougo Coffee

2008-07-16T05:50:16Z

July 28. One image of mine as seen through the door.

And Brian, the owner, with some work of Evgenia's in the background

No, I'm not very good at snapshots, but you can see my real work @ Tougo through the rest of the month =)

Blick @ Artopia

2008-07-10T06:20:51Z

Here's a photo of the installation @ Artopia just before it came down. Apologies for the quality of the pic - it was just a last-minute snapshot before striking the show, hence my (ahem) lovely outfit.

The photos were hung from tensioned wires in a cross-shaped torus, forming 4 virtual rooms which were each 3 photos x 2 photos on a side.

This snapshot shows one of the "rooms". The neat thing was that the wires from which the images were suspended were barely visible in the regular lighting, so the exhibit really looked as if it were just floating in mid-air. The images were displayed in clip frames, which I felt added to the overall minimal look.

I lit the whole thing with a bunch of reflector clip lamps, which somehow just felt right. Needless to say, this presentation did have a totally different look and feel than a more traditional gallery hanging.

(I also kind of hope that I never have to hang anything in quite this manner again... Although it did look damn cool once it was all done.)

If you missed the earlier shows, Blick will be showing @ Studio Brick for August's Art Walk. Ping me if you'd like to get on our announce list - we're also having some fun events like wine and sake tastings throughout August.

Next up is "A Sense of Place", a show @ Tougo Coffee in Seattle (18th and Union). There's a reception @ 7pm on Thursday evening (tomorrow!) Come on by and say hello - I have 3 really large photos in the show. It's still kind of startling to be walking down the street and then see a huge image of mine front and centre through the window of a shop =)

Music: Stateless, Lali Puna

2008-07-09T18:18:39Z

This is one of those albums that I started out liking only one song on. Then two. Then three. It's grown on me ridiculously.

http://www.amazon.com/Stateless/dp/B000PKG7N4

They sound a good bit like Coldplay, but with different melodies and a more electronic bent to many of their songs.

I'm also currently digging Lali Puna. They remind me of a cross between Mum and Imogen Heap. There's a remix album called "I thought I was over that" that's very worth checking out.

http://www.amazon.com/Thought-Was-Over-That-Remixed/dp/B0009E26UY

Working boy

2008-07-08T05:03:02Z

Well, it's been a busy and interesting couple of weeks.

Saturday June 28 was Artopia in Georgetown. Definitely the most ridiculous hang I've ever done - I was exhibiting in a big industrial space with no walls. When you're a photographer, this makes life difficult.

I ended up making a 3-dimensional cross-shaped torus, with 3 x 2 images on each quadrant. The images (a line of 6 images bisected by a line of 4 images) were all vertical shots from Blick zum Objekt framed at 20 x 24 and hung back-to-back. With a LOT of help from my friend David (trvth), I strung up wire through a fairly complex schema of eye bolts that I'd devised, put these under tension and hung the photos from them. I think we got started around 9pm and got home around 3am, allowing for a couple of breaks to sequence / group images and take a wine breather.

I'll post photos of the hang at some point. It was the kind of thing that was either going to look really really good or fail miserably, as I didn't have time to try a mock-up. Luckily, it ended up looking great - the images were just suspended in midair, and the torus arrangement made for separate viewing rooms. It was DAMN hot in the building, but I got some extremely good feedback on the work and the presentation, which is always gratifying.

Will have at least one post facto sale and possibly a photo shoot or two come out of this - good stuff since a lot of the gallery people I'm talking to say that sales are tanking across the board. Yay economy =/

Exhibiting is a tonne of fucking work.

Thursday July 3 was Art Walk at Mnemonic in 619. My schedule was a total mess due to Artopia, so I'm afraid I put bloodengel and velvetgarden through way more stress and waiting than I meant to - sorry about that!

Lots more good feedback about the work, although the 619 crowd in my humble experience isn't much of an art buying crowd. Still, it was nice to see the full series of work up as I'd "only" had 20 pieces up in Artopia.

Alison was there registering voters and selling items from Velvet Mechanism, and my friend Stuart was helping in the store as well. Thanks, guys!

There was a persistent rumour that onlyjanica was in town, although we weren't able to attract her to the show =(

Next up, I'll be hanging a photo from Japan in Tougo Coffee in the Central District (opening reception is on Thursday evening) and planning the wine and sake tastings for Brick in August!

Blick will also be having its last hang for the time being @ Studio Brick in August.

I am looking forward to getting back to shooting, rather than spending all of my time working on exhibits and marketing =)

A funny conversation from the show last night

2008-07-04T20:01:56Z

Me: It kind of sucks that art looks two sizes smaller when you hang it on a gallery wall.
J: I don't think so. What are these, 11 x 14?
Me: Um, 20 x 24...
J: Oh, I see what you mean.

Thanks to everybody who came out! If you missed the show, it'll be up at Studio Brick in August.

We also have a sake tasting scheduled for Tuesday, Aug 12 with Johnnie Stroud of Sake Nomi and I'm working out details of a wine tasting with Peter Moore of Poco Wine Room.

Sign up for the mailing list to get details!

Extra special thanks to Chuck and The Seattle Sinner for their support of the show! The June issue had a great ad featuring Liturgie. Keep your eyes open for a new ad in the July issue, coming in a week or so.

Artwalk tonight!

2008-07-03T11:27:47Z

Come on by, 619 Western, 4th floor.

Studio Brick will be closed, but I'll be exhibiting Blick zum Objekt in the Mnemonic Gallery.

For those of you on LJ who can't make it to Seattle, I'll post more images and probably a print sale as soon as I'm not completely in the middle of exhibition hell =)

Quick unscientific poll

2008-07-02T02:23:10Z

I'll be doing some wine and sake tasting events in conjunction with openings of my new art show.

Question: would you be more likely / available to attend such an event on a weekday or a weekend?

Also: if it's a weekday, which would be better between Tuesday and Wednesday?

Thanks for your input!

Le toxique

2008-06-25T06:47:36Z

Acetone makes me happy in that way that only really horrible, bad-for-you-comma-the-environment-comma-and-everything things (which happen to make your life orders of magnitude easier) can. Yay acetone.

And yay for Alison who not only managed to score this elusive substance in a hair store or questionable provenance in San Francisco, but also remembered that we've been smuggling it around for the last half decade!

In case you're curious, I really am referring to acetone. As in, that mostly-illegal-in-most-places form of nail polish remover that, in the grand tradition of benzene, your sister probably scrambled her genetic code to some extent with as a pre-teen.

*contented sigh*

I should also add that our friend acetone would have saved me from cutting my finger. Ah, the joys of art and framing.

Blick zum Objekt - preview

2008-06-23T02:07:45Z

Here is a preview image of new, never before seen work from the series Blick zum Objekt - enjoy!

Props to model onlyjanica for making the trek out to an abandoned petochemical plant with me and posing while some metal thieves were stealing some wire and piping in another part of the complex..!

I hear a rumor she may even be in town for the July Art Walk opening. Hope to see some of you there!

At the risk of being redundant, you can sign up for event updates at http://groups.google.com/group/studio-brick

Here are the upcoming dates:

Saturday June 28 @ Artopia, Georgetown Seattle
Thursday July 3 @ Mnemonic Gallery, 619 Western 4th floor
Thursday August 7 @ Studio Brick, 214 1st Ave S lower level

Next show - Artopia, June 28

2008-06-20T19:42:01Z

Artopia - July 28
http://www.artopiaseattle.com

Artopia is a free art festival in Seattle's Georgetown neighbourhood. Imagine my surprise when I was invited to participate and then was told that instead of getting space for 1 or 2 pieces, I'd be getting a building!

I will be showing a mix of images, some pieces from the upcoming show Blick zum Objekt and some more family-friendly work of abandoned industry.

My work will be on display in the SnoPac building, on 12th Ave S just off of Airport Way.

If you can't make it, the full Blick series will be opening at 619 Western for July Artwalk.

Check it

2008-06-07T18:56:15Z

June's Seattle Sinner has 2 ads for Blick, which is showing in July and August in Seattle! They will be running a full color, full page ad next month also.

Show dates are:
Thursday July 3 @ Mnemonic Gallery, 619 Western 4th floor
Thursday August 7 @ Studio Brick, 214 1st Ave S lower level

I know I promised some preview photos - stay tuned...

Preview from the upcoming show

2008-06-05T06:30:44Z

Here's an image that will be in the show we have opening at Art Walk tomorrow!

Hope to see some of you @ Brick tomorrow! I hope to post images from the next show soon.

Upcoming shows

2008-06-04T06:48:05Z

Please join me for Art Walk on Thursday, June 5 between 5 and 10pm. Brick is located at 214 1st Ave S, between S. Main and S. Jackson in Seattle's Pioneer Square. We are in the lower level arcade.

Enter via a door open to the left of the building's main entrance on 1st Ave S - we'll try to have the Occidental Park door open as well.

Showing this month is "Portraits and Abstractions", a group show of Brick members featuring the work of Bob Hansen, Leon Pryor, Matt Freedman and Thomas Park.

Saturday, June 28 - Artopia
Come down to Seattle's Georgetown neighbourhood to see art and performances by Seattle artists, including work by myself.

Thursday, July 3 - Blick zum Objekt @ Mnemonic Gallery
This is the first of two openings of new work by Thomas Park entitled Blick zum Objekt, "Industry as sacred space".

This series addresses the forgotten and oft-overlooked engines of commerce and industry in the context of cathedrals, monuments to forgotten and abandoned gods.

Thursday, August 7 - Blick zum Objekt @ Studio Brick
The second local opening for Blick zum Objekt. These shows are being generously sponsored by The Seattle Sinner, Poco Wine Room, and Sake Nomi.

I am planning wine + sake tasting events with Poco and Sake Nomi - if you'd like to be informed about these and other events, please sign up for our events list at http://groups.google.com/group/studio-brick

New studio - grand opening show

2008-05-21T06:21:00Z

As some of you may have heard, I've very recently opened a new photo studio / cooperative gallery in Pioneer Sq. I'll be making a bit of a return from hiatus here on LJ to post more photography.

The first show at my studio will be "Portraits and Abstractions", a group show featuring work from all of the co-op members. If you're planning on coming out for Art Walk, please come by!

Portraits and Abstractions
Opening reception
Art Walk, Thursday 5 June
6 - 10 pm.

Studio Brick
214 1st Ave S
(the historic Grand Central building on Occidental Sq, next to the old Fenix)
Lower level arcade

I'm showing several pieces from 2005 - 2008.

We also have an announce list that we'll be posting openings and special events to; please sign up if you're interested in getting news about upcoming parties and shows!
http://groups.google.com/group/studio-brick

I also have shows coming up in July, August and December - more about those soon.

atfrost @ 2008-04-27T23:14:00

2008-04-28T06:16:53Z

This is pure good:

http://failblog.wordpress.com/

If you don't find at least half of these funny, you're either a machine or as a child, your toys were stolen by ninja and you've been training in martial arts nonstop as a result of the trauma and no longer get joy from puppies.

What is up with the ninja colds?

2008-03-06T19:02:33Z

Early this year, right after NYE, I was feeling totally fine... And woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. The cough and sore throat and all that plague that was going around at the beginning of the year hit like a tonne of bricks (that is to say, very hard and pretty much out of nowhere).

Yesterday, same song and dance. I'm feeling totally fine, had a glass of wine with some friends, then woke up that night with a fever and muscle aches. Which is still going on today.

WTF? What happened to having a day or two of "I feel kinda crappy" between the "I'm perfectly fine, on top the world thank you kindly" and the "Ughgngngngngnnnnnnnnnnnnn - can't get out of bed. The pain! The colors! The misery!"??

Sheesh. Colds these days. No respect.