The Far East -- Bellevue

For the first time in my 6 years of working in Seattle, I have to commute to Bellevue (yes, I have a day job). The commute is fine if I carpool with Tom M. or Lisa D., but being in the suburbs every day is a very different feeling than being in the city, immersed in art, music and culture. I feel like everything is made of cardboard out here. As if, when I pass a certain imaginary line, the three-dimensional landscape changes into two dimensions. Buildings, yards, housing seem to lose the shadows that define the culture from which they emerged. I can no longer see the stories within their history because they are all the same.

Sokolicky and I were brainstorming last night about it, and we decided one reason is that a majority of the artwork that seen in suburban culture is for the purpose of retail instead of expression. Art that is made for expression harbors emotion and depth.

Another reason may be because we are trained to see a graphic and know what it symbolizes. Automatically understand the meaning behind it. The graphic is interpreted in the exact same way by everyone who sees it. And therefore we loose not only expression of the artist, but also interpretation of the viewer. A black-lined mermaid surrounded by a green circle has only one meaning … ‘buy our coffee’. It tastes the same, looks the same in every shop -- on every corner, in every city in every state in every country. No expression except for ‘buy’. No interpretation except for ‘us’.

I love my mom. She is the most amazing, strongest, enduring woman I know. When I moved to Seattle, my family came to have dinner with me and see my new place. I took them to Zeek’s Pizza , a fantastic pizza joint up the street on Phinney Ridge that uses real ingredients (it’s unfortunate that that fact even has to be mentioned). Garlic cloves smushed from a head of garlic. Wedges of pineapple the size of my thumbs. My mom didn’t like it. She wanted pizza that tasted ‘normal.’

I went to the coffee shop here in Bellevue this morning and the barista told me about a customer who came in asking for the Sumatra blend of coffee. When she told him the blend is not available anymore because of the Tsunami in South Asia, he said ‘so will you have it next week then?’ She said to him, ‘No, the earthquakes have wiped out thousands of roads and farms and killed 220,000 people in Sumatra and there are no more beans available.’ Then he said ‘I thought coffee came from Columbia’.

Yesterday I went into Whole Foods for some lunch. I walked into the grocery store and was greeted by rows upon rows upon rows of fresh fruits & vegetables, meats, cheeses from all over the entire world. Boxes and boxes of beans and rice, soups, pastas. 3-7 different brands of any type of food that I could think of. So much that it takes me 5 minutes to decide what yogurt to buy. My choice of brand, price, flavor, container, size. I have the opportunity to be one of the healthiest, most well-fed people in this entire world. I take it all for granted every single day. Pink told me once that it’s a really good exercise to take a piece of food like a Fugi apple in your hand and think about every hand that it touched in order to get there: from the stock-person who put it on the shelf, from the delivery truck driver who brought it from the warehouse, workers who unloaded and loaded it from the train, from the pick-up truck that carried it from the farm in California or Washington or Indonesia or Japan where a boy or girl, man or woman picked apples all day long from the trees with their bare hands. Doing that makes you think of all the steps involved in getting a piece of fruit from one land to another just for you. It’s unfortunate that if one day the Fugi apple stopped showing up at the grocery store, I would just turn my vision to another barrel and pick up a Braeburn instead, without one single thought as to what could have happened to the people in between the tree and myself that could have caused the choice that I once had to go away.

Starbucks donated $100,00 to Tsunami effort. Last year, Starbucks reported $4 billion in sales.

Speaking of Artists in Seattle, tonight launches 'Blow up the Spot'.

Curated by Damion Hayes of Cut Kulture United

Exhibition: February 3 – February 26 , 2005 at VAIN, 2018 1st av

Opening reception: Thursday February 3. 5pm-8pmThere will be refrehments and open studios throughout the building Please Feel Free To Explore

Hours: Sunday – Saturday noon – 7pm

VAIN Salon and Cut Kulture United are pleased to present “Blow Up The Spot”, a group Exhibition of 6 emerging artists, the first of several collaborative arts events curated by Damion Hayes of Cut Kulture United at VAIN. “Blow Up The Spot” is a vibrant look at Seattles contemporary urban arts movement featuring works by Nhon Nguyen, George Estrada, Vittorio Costarelli, Zeta Brown, Drewad, and Victor Pantet.

Nhon Nguygen is especially significant because he is the artist of the one and only artwork I've ever purchased so far. It's a beautiful piece of the DJ Goldie and a dancer behind him. His work is also seen on the bus stations in Capital Hill.