MOMOKO : June 2009

July 2009 Seattle Debut

My hardest installation ever was in January 2007 at ArtCenter South Florida, in Miami Beach, FL. I was to paste a 15 feet wide 6 feet high painting and other things onto a wall. Well, I had done it a few times of installing the large paintings by then, so I went there with two helper friends of mine, thinking it would be super easy as (I thought) I knew what to do. Plus, one of them is a professional carpenter with Master's in Fine Art education and the other one also being a professional artist with Master's degree in Fine Art. However, when we hit the first tack it didn't go in. Yes, the 45 feet wide wall was a concrete wall.

Other resident artists who had shown on the same wall passed by and told us the detailed horror stories on how hard (or impossible) to hang anything there and said, "Didn't you know?". They said they even tried heavy duty tapes to paste artworks and the tape came off because of the heat trapped in this huge glass case with heavy duty lights and Florida weather. None of us lived there so we were left with only equipments I brought in. We all had to think out of box in order not to give up. I did have a drill with a regular drill bits, and the carpenter said we need a drill bit for concrete to drill into concrete. ArtCenter staff told us there's a hardware store nearby in a walking distance, where I bought a drill bit for concrete and also those expensive screws for concrete.

So far so good, but it's not over yet. The 45 feet wall was covered and enclosed by a thick glass, and it was pretty narrow between the wall and glass. You and ladder enter from a door on one side and get in between the thick glass and the wall, and walk like a crab sideways in there to move in this narrow world. You can enter and exit from only one side, and the other side was enclosed by a thick glass. It was hot in there because of the not much ventilation and lots of lighting from above, and that's where my carpenter drilled the concrete one by one on the ladder to make holes for the length of 15 feet so we could put the screws in. If I went to this installation alone I would have easily given up, but thank goodness they were just visiting from Chicago and I took them to help me. Apparently I was missing a concrete drilling experience.

This exhibit was very non responsive - with no sales or complement, a month passed by and I removed my works from the wall, and that appeared to be an opportunity to learn how hard concrete was supposed to be. From this experience on, I always ask, "Is it a concrete wall?" In any event, later on I listed this 15x6 feet large painting on the Internet, and someone in Chicago bought it shortly after. So it was the same carpenter/artist friend who lives in Chicago and helped me install it while he was visiting Miami was the one I sent to the buyer's house in Chicago to install it because no one else knows how to install it better than him.

As if things were supposed to happen without notice, in November 2008, a year and 9 months after this "installation impossible," I received a message from someone in Seattle who saw it in ArtCenter South Florida and kept my contact information. So this is my story of how I "hopped" from one non-profit art center in Miami Beach to another non-profit art center in Seattle.

Center on Contemporary Art Seattle (http://cocaseattle.org/) presents at least 26 pieces of my art.

Opening: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 6pm-9pm
On display: July 8 - August 8, 2009
Location: Shilshole Bay Beach Club: 6413 Seaview Ave NW, Seattle, WA (206) 706-0257

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Where I Landed This Time

To omit the uninteresting part of the story, I moved into an artist studio - the biggest artist studio I have ever seen or heard of before. I feel so relieved for two reasons. One is that I now do not have to worry about a painting too large or bulky. Anything I can possibly make will fit in here. The equally important second reason is the heat. I was previously located where hot micro-climate was killing me. Here in Oakland, CA, has 20 to 30 degrees lower temperatures than those hot spots in the Bay Area, but it doesn't get cold like San Francisco. I like warm climate, but those 110+ degrees heat waves are far beyond my comfort zone.

This place is newly opened to share the large space with other artists. They are going to throw a big opening party on July 11th.

Time: Saturday, July 11 4:00p
Location: 1960 Mandela Pkwy., Oakland, CA, 94607
Price: $20 - $125
website Event Website

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