Lounge!
Arthouse at the Jones Center
On view through Sunday, January 16

If observing Arthouse's current installation Lounge! makes you weak in the knees, you're In luck - Matthew Geller's inventive re-design of the Jones Center gallery space makes this one of Austin's most enticing places to take a load off. Entitled Sixty Weak Knees, Geller's lounge takes the phrase "off the wall" to new proportions. The artist has created a forum for relaxation that channels space through a configuration of hanging chairs and benches (swings, really) and oversized tables that double as projection screens. Nothing touches the walls, nothing touches the floor; except maybe the tips of your toes as you sway in one of Geller's suspended chairs perusing the fine collection of catalogs and art magazines scattered throughout the lounge while listening to site-specific sounds through one of the iPods available to visitors.

Following the corridor from the gallery to the rear of Arthouse, you can imagine the lounge in 24 other configurations. Proposals from artists around the country reveal a number of playful and thoughtful visions for the space that range from a lounge with string walls to a 1950's indoor drive-in movie theater.

If you haven't experienced the space yet, there'll be a final film screening before the cables get cut on January 16 and the swings come down. Charles and Ray Eames films Powers of Ten (1977) and House: After Five Years of Living (1955) will begin at 7 PM January 13. What better way to experience the space?

Mothership Connection
Creative Research Laboratory
On view though January 15, 2005

The Creative Research Laboratory currently features a show of UT alumni. NY artist Erik Parker's contribution, an acrylic painting from 2000 entitled Move the Crowd, is absolutely beautiful. Parker puts his own mark on the psychedelic canon by incorporating Peter Saul's cartoon figuration with the constant shout-out list of the hip hop community. A web of text (written in a variety of media that includes acrylic paint, marker, and pencil) swirl about on the canvas and, at a distance, dissolves into an abstract image. But up close, you hear Parker's subconscious screaming out random artist names, galleries, musical performers, personal references of friends and family in a mound of art history-speak and street lingo.

For more information on Parker check online at http://www.paolocurti.com/parker/parker.htm. Locals Andy Coolquitt and Jason Singleton both serve up excellent installation works and Houston's Patrick Phipps drawings are entertaining. A good show overall, well worth it to see how UT alumni are fairing out in the real world.

The Electric Heartbreaker & Automusik
Saturday, January 8, 8pm, $5 Admission
Iron Gate Studios

This Saturday night....

Iron Gate Studios and Chicken Ranch Records are kicking off the new year with a "Musi-Data Dancing Extravaganza" featuring The Electric Heartbreaker & Automusik.

From the Iron Gate website:
Created by John Walker and Chris Garrison in 2000, Electric Heartbreaker is a quirky comedy tracks the relationship of John, a depressed amateur musician, and Chris who has dance moves like you've never seen, John is misunderstood by his family and friendless... he lives only to create his "musidata." Upon meeting Chris, they embark on a journey together to "go beyond entertainment" and create a new music scene. But is the world ready for them? ...

Automusik, trio of lascivious robots from Memphis, IN, whose thick accents suggest a German origin, continue their Journey for musical domination here at Iron Gate. They consist of four separate components. There is Automusik himself, a cyborg mad scientist clad in a white lab coat, thick safety goggles, and black leather gloves. He is flanked by two lovely pleasure-bots, a petite blond and a lanky brunette. There is also a telescreen from which electronic music flows and happy-faced animations instruct the audience. Together, the group performs - not just plays - their music, which happens to be packed with social commentary. There is dancing, singing, acting, and lollipops making them a combination of rock-n-roll and performance art.

For more information, check out www.irongatestudios.org

Women & Their Work Call For Entries
Deadline: February 1, 2005

Women & Their Work is soliciting proposals for individual and curated group exhibitions for its 2005/6 Gallery Artist Series. Works in all media will be accepted.
Eligibility: Women artists residing in Texas who have not has a solo exhibition in the Women & Their Work gallery within the past five years are eligible. Work done under supervision cannot be accepted. Enrolled Fine Arts students cannot exhibit. Recent or newly created work in all media will be considered. Artist must be able to exhibit their work by August 2005. The work exhibited must not have been previously exhibited in Austin.
Criteria: Selections are based on a strong, consistent aesthetic vision. Selections will be made by Women & Their Work Statewide Artists Advisory Council.
Calendar: February 1, 2005: Postmark deadline for all entry materials. March 15, 2005: Notification and slides mailed to
applicants. Slides of accepted work will be retained by Women & Their Work. July 2005 - July 2006: Exhibition and
installations will be scheduled for five week periods between these dates. Click here for application form.

Project Row Houses seeks Submissions
Saturday, January 8, 8pm, $5 Admission
Deadline: February 2, 2005

Project Row Houses has extended its submission deadline to February 2nd! A note from Project Row Houses (excerpt):
We are looking for proposals for the next round (spring) of installations, which will open in Mid April. The Artists Committee is encouraging artists to submit proposals for projects that are interactive as well interdisciplinary.... Selected artists receive an honorarium of $2,500.00 and the exhibition will run for six months. Please submit slides of your previous work with your proposals.
For more information and entry specifics, contact Robert Pruitt, Project Row Houses Arts Coordinator at 713.526.7662. Installation Projects, Attn: Robert Pruitt, 2521 Hoiman St, Houston TX, 77004.