Artopia In Georgetown Strikes Again, Part 1

I’m sad to say that this was my first year attending Artopia in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood, but I now wholeheartedly back the event, which is full of shenanigans, music, and of course, art. And to my pleasant surprise, a lot of installation art — which is relatively lacking in Seattle.

To the unacquainted, Georgetown is a relatively “rundown” part of the city, but in a good way. It’s chock full of antiques and old-school personality. With portions of an old brewery and malt plant still intact, the neighborhood has established itself as a pretty good art niche as of late.

Upon first getting there, we were met with crafts to do. Carve your own clay tile, they said. Partake in our creature swaps, they said. Eat free popcorn, they said. Play in our strongman competitions, they said. But that was just the beginning!

Sand painting, with powdered paint. Powdered paint?!!

Yoga ball alley does a body good. How do they come up with this stuff?

Power tool racing. This was all the rage for some reason. In this particular race, the new generation tool beat the old generation tool. Unfortunately, I’m not sure what tool it was…

Numerous colored paints, one record, and one centrifuge = spin art.

An experimental film setup of sorts.

A contraption that’s a little like a seesaw, but when you stand on the end, it’s similar to a flipbook. You think about that.

Jethaniel “Spyder” Peterka‘s Anatomical Icons. Oil on panel and what looks like gold leaf. He was a former (or current?) Gage Academy of Art student. I know nothing more.

Sarah Fansler Lavin – Bite, Tear, Chew, Gnaw #2, made of cast plaster and steel. Here is her artist statement:

“My work is a response to where we have been and where we are going. For me, Blacksmithing is the connection between the worlds. It reflects the physical effort and human struggle in the confrontation with matter. It is an ironic nod to tradition and the labor intensity eschewed today. My work explores the issues of human fragility/natures tenacity. This imbalance is the subject of my recurring dream: Teeth falling out. This common dream represents fear of losing control, not being heard and our caged instinctual and primal instincts.”