Current exhibit at Inside OUT Gallery (CVS windows)?

[davisdenizen.livejournal.com]

I was thrilled and astonished by the sudden (to me!) appearance of the amazing installation in the CVS window gallery. Does anyone know anything about it? Some people walking by recognized one of the artists as "Skunk" and said something about looking up what sounded like Eight Grit? 80 Grit?

I'd love to know of any writeups on this installation and also how long it will be up?

I am so happy to live in a neighborhood where something like this is possible!

Comments

[ron_newman]

The metal robot thing with the toaster is definitely Skunk's work. I don't know anything about the rest of the exhibit, but I'd like to. The last time I went by, it had no identifying labels whatsoever.

The Somerville Arts Council curates these windows, but I can't find any information about it on their website. Usually they are changed monthly.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

That display is so beautiful and amazing. The artist bios are almost hidden, in the rightmost window on a typewritten sheet (IIRC). It stopped me in my tracks.

[ron_newman]

I e-mailed Skunk, and he told me the other artists are Hilary Scott, Suzanne Lubeck, David Colombo, and Molly Van Nice.

The coordinator is Heather Balchunas from the Somerville Arts Council. I don't know if any of her work is in the installation.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I don't know about the installation, but Skunk's website is here (http://www.skunkadelia.com/).

[gilana]

I saw something in the exhibit somewhere that listed some of the artists names, because I noticed Skunk and Hilary Scott, among others. I think it may have been somewhere in the left-most window, sorry I can't be more helpful!

[ron_newman]

A photo that Brad Kelly took recently there:

[wellthan.livejournal.com]

It was curated by Hilary Scott

[ron_newman]

Here's an e-mail I just got from the Somerville Arts Council mailing list:

The Somerville Arts Council and the Inside- OUT Gallery are pleased to be a part of an amazing archeological discovery-- right here in Somerville. Rare and strange artifacts were recently discovered from the mysterious( and defunct) Patent Office of Obverse Innovation and Engineering. The recent discovery of several subterranean chambers during construction at the MaxPac site on Clyde Street now promise a greater insight into this most enigmatic of federal departments. Filled with unopened packages and patent applications, the Clyde Street site opens a window on innovation of the last century.

Notated historical consultant, Hilary Scott who has been the formost authority on the subject, collaborated with the Arts Council to bring these curious finds to the public.

About Patent Office of Obverse Innovation and Engineering
Established by President Ulysses S. Grant in the turbulent years following the Civil War, the Patent Office of Obverse Innovation and Engineering (POOIE) served as a clearinghouse for some of the most innovative, dangerous and bizarre inventions of the Gilded Age. Headquartered in a large Victorian on Clyde Street in Somerville Massachusetts, the patent applications deemed "sensitive" or "downright odd" by Patent officials in Washington were forwarded to the Somerville office. The staff appeared to have never exceeded twenty, but their identities remain unknown, and given the destruction that overtook the premises, are likely to remain so. On August 12, 1919, a loud buzzing was heard throughout the central part of Somerville, reaching as far as Winter Hill. In the morning the Clyde Street building had vanished completely.

The Patent Office innovators & excavators:
The June Window of the Patent Office of Obverse Innovation and Engineering was developed and curated from the creative mind of Hilary Scott as part of a collaboration with several local artists to exhibit such an fantastical display.
Featured artists include:

Hilary Scott
http://eclecticsculpture.com/

Skunk
http://www.skunkadelia.com/

M.L. Van Nice
http://www.madoysterstudios.org/?q=vannice

Suzanne Lubeck
http://lubeckbeadedcrochetjewelry.blogspot.com/

Faye Dupras
http://foreignlandscapes.com/

David Colombo
http://www.davidcolombo.com/

[davisdenizen.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info, Ron and everyone! Love the extra tag, too. :-) I wish the installation could be up for longer than June!!!