Sat May 17 - 7:00pm-9:00pm
Bloggers: Join Artomatic Saturday, May 17, for a special event

Do you blog? Then pack up your laptop and come out and meet other D.C.-area bloggers during the spectacular that is Artomatic as we host our first-ever Blogger’s Night.

From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, May 17, bloggers can get an inside look at Artomatic, the Washington, D.C.-area’s arts extravaganza. Join your fellow DC-bloggites in the NoMa lounge on Artomatic’s 12th floor for a meet-up and mini-tour.

You’ll have a chance to swap ideas with Artomatic artists, including Erin Antognoli, Michael Auger, Jennifer Beinhacker, Angela Raincatcher, Kerri Sheehan, Paul Roe of Britishink, and http://www.artomatic.org/user/118]Jack Whitsitt[/url]. If you blog, you’re invited.

Pizza (aka blogger fuel) will be provided courtesy of Uno Chicago Grill at Union Station. Free wireless will be available, so you can send your thoughts straight into the blogosphere live from Artomatic.

Blogger’s Night is hosted by photographer (and blogger) Angela Kleis, an Artomatic participant and our very own blogger liaison. Read Angela’s personal invite to bloggers below, and drop her a line at akleis@gmail.com. if you need more details.

Artomatic is viral. With over 1,000 artists, this high-energy, non-stop event is a one-stop for who’s who, who’s next, and who just wants to have fun with their art in the DC area. Just type “Artomatic 2008″ into any search field and hit enter. How many pages of links do you get? This writer can report 75 pages referencing Artomatic. That’s a lot by any standard. Artomatic news can be found all over the Internet from every conceivable outlet - from participating artists websites to friends of participating artists, to news outlets, and, bloggers. Yes, Bloggers.

The bloggers and artists who help spread Artomatic news via their websites and online journals are an integral part of its success. As a thank you for your continued help spreading the Artomatic virus, we have invited a diverse group of visual artists to speak about their current Artomatic show on Artomatic’s Blogger Night.

Join us for a mini-tour and artist discussion to learn about the inspiration behind their exhibits, from the artists, themselves. Then, WRITE!

Help keep the Artomatic virus contagious. Write about your thoughts and experiences at Artomatic - good or bad. Because, quite frankly, we don’t feel 75 pages of links is enough.

Artomatic’s Blogger Night
Saturday, May 17, 2008
7-9pm
Pizza! courtesy of Uno’s at Union Station
Meet-up Location: 12th Floor NOMA Lounge

Participating Artists:
Erin Antognoli [9NW A4]
Michael Auger [8NW A4]
Jennifer Beinhacker [12SW A5]
Britishink [12]
Angela Raincatcher [8SW A7]
Kerri Sheehan [7NE C3]
Jack Whitsitt [8SE D6]

For more information, contact [me] Angela Kleis at akleis@gmail.com

Hope to see you there!

My Artomatic Space!

Originally uploaded by akkleis

Woo! It’s D-O-N-E.

Actually, I didn’t spend as much time on this as I did last year, mainly b/c last year it was so much closer. This year: one day to paint, one day to do the rest. Paivi took care of the light set-up for both of our spaces and I painted. And, after being jealous of all the pretty vinyl letters from last year, I did the same thing this time. Super cheap and easy to use.

blur, the name of my show, includes nine bad, blurry photos. From a technical standpoint, they are bad. But, what does that mean? Define “bad”. Well, actually, I don’t care what the definition of “bad” is because it’s my show and I can hang whatever I want. And, I’m happy with it. I am also rebelling against the perfection that comes from shooting ones and zeros.

I shoot film; the trendy and hipster word for this is “analog”. Screw that. It’s film. I like being able to choose my grain based on the film type and the smell of the chemicals and the fuck ups during developing and having to wait to see what I get. I also don’t post-process my photos but to adjust contrast and levels, things that I would do in the darkroom using filters when they are printed.

There are over 1,000 artists in this year’s Artomatic. If I can actually do it, I want to count each photographer’s exhibit. It’s easy to get lost in a sea of perfect photos; I wanted to do something different.

Speaking of different: this is my wall partner Paivi Salonen’s first ever show. She gave me so much shit about not using digital ever (which isn’t true, I use my cell phone camera all the time). Then, one day when out taking photos of an anti-war protest, she saw this and then the ebay-buying fury began. [It was contagious, too.] 40-some-odd cameras later, I think she’s done. Oh, ahem, did I mention that these are FILM cameras? Right. Hence, that post I wrote earlier this year about film not being dead and all. Mmhmm. Maybe Kodak and Polaroid should be reading posts like that and watching the cult following that’s developing.

Anyhoo, this is Paivi’s first ever show. And, she did something different, too. A series of dark portraits in black and white; some film, some digital. She transformed their apartment into a studio and for 5 hours we dressed Jen up and took her photo. Another photo shoot involved another girl, Flora. And, even Jack. They turned out really cool. So, be sure to check her show out, too. It’s not hard. When you go see mine, when you’re done, just turn your head to the left.

Tonight’s the opening, but I won’t be there…I have tickets to the Cure show that was rescheduled from last September. Never seen them before, and I can’t wait! Then, in a few weeks, Duran Duran, and then in July, George Michael. Yeah, you read that right.

When I’ll be at Artomatic:
Saturday, May 10, 5-10pm (volunteer shift)
Sunday, May 18, 12-5 (volunteer shift)

Saturday, May 17, time TBD… Artomatic Blogger’s Night, which I’m organizing

And, various other times until June 15, the closing.