Okay, so it’s not an actual octopus; it’s a massive, badass sculpture at the corner of Pacific Ave and South Tacoma Way (map) called “Gertie’s Ghost.” It was created by artists Sean Orlando and David Shulman, who were inspired by the ill-fated Galloping Gertie bridge.
“We were enamored with the story of the giant octopus that lives in the wreckage of the bridge,” Shulman told the Tribune. “We kind of fused all of those things together to try and build something that was evocative of an old railroad trestle but had the tapering lines and organic curves of an octopus’s tentacles.” Source
I personally love this. I (almost) always love massive installation sculptures. Tacoma actually has a lot of great public sculptures! I’ve always thought it would be kind of cool to have a feature on this website where I take pictures of every single public sculpture within the city limits (but who has the time for that?). There’s another massive installation sculpture going into the in-progress Dune Peninsula park, called “Alluvion” that’s made of deconstructed pipes that reference the old Asarco smelter smokestack that used to be on that site:
Electronic music-maker S3RL released and electronic (shocking, I know) cover of The Simpsons theme song. But more importantly, local artist and animator James AKA Radio Gosha animated a meticulous recreation of the opening sequence of The Simpsons in the inimitable Radio Gosha style. It’s a straight-up recreation up until the couch gag, which sees Professor Fink and his DJ 3000 machine replace the couch, at which point things go a bit off the rails. Various highlight clips from past episodes of the show bleed and remix into each other (including a delightful shot of Marge dancing on the infamous steamed hams) in delightful chaos. Just watch.
You take the word “Costume” and the word “Play” and you put ’em together…
My friend, the lovely and talented Shiboney aka 2ManuallyFocus, is a professional photographer (among other things). One thing she specializes in is taking photos of people in their cosplay getups. And now she’s having an exhibition of her cosplay photography!
Not only is it an exhibit of her photos, but it is also displaying props and costumes from some esteemed local cosplayers:
R2 is that you…?
This is NOT a freeze-frame of a video game, TV show, or movie…
This Wednesday (October 24th) evening is the Opening Night party for the exhibit. You’re encouraged to go in cosplay if you’re going to go (and you should)!
Details:
Cosplay in the PNW – Opening Night (Faced Book event)
Wednesday, October 24th 5:00-7:00 PM
@ Rosetta Hunter Art Gallery
1701 Broadway, Seattle, WA 98122 (map)
All-Ages, FREE!
The exhibit runs through November 20th, so you should still get over there and see it even if you can’t make the opening night event!
Sometimes the guy who lives across the hall from your first apartment likes to take photographs. And sometimes, almost 14 years later, that same guy has an art gallery exhibiting his photographs.
At least that’s the case with me and Carrie, and our across-the-hall Neighbor Gary “Terrapin” Lappier, whose exhibit is entitled Sent from Somewhere Else. Here’s what he says about it:
I received a camera for my fifth birthday, which is around the same time I made my first visit to the B&I. It was a technicolor buzz full of goodies and amazements. A crown jewel in a city full of promise named Tacoma. Since a young age I had fantasized about documenting this unique place and the variety found within. As I grew and developed my craft, the B&I aged and declined. Sent from Somewhere Else is the photographic result of this exploration.
-Gary Lappier
We’re fortunate enough to own several Gary Lappier originals that adorn the walls of our house:
Gary Lappier Originals.
He doesn’t live across the hall from us anymore. But he does live in a house only about three blocks away from ours. So we’re super excited to head to Fulcrum Gallery in Tacoma this Friday night for the Opening Reception of his exhibit. SO CAN YOU!
Details:
Sent from Somewhere Else: The Black and White Photography of Gary Lappier (Facebook event)
March 14th – April 5th
Opening Reception Friday, March 14th 6:00 – 9:00 PM
Fulcrum Gallery
1308 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma
More info: http://www.fulcrumtacoma.com/category/now-showing/
(Yes, I know that the title of this post is “Draw a Glass” and not “Raise a Glass” — you’ll see why shortly).
Last week was an important anniversary that I missed: One year since the opening of Tacoma’s Quite-Quite-Fantastic taproom, Pint Defiance.
It is an excellent place to pick up some bottles, have a pint, or fill a growler with a rather tasty beverage. Before Carrie caught the preggers (and before I stopped drinking out of solidarity) we tended to go there whenever we needed to bring good beer to a dinner or party or what-have-you.
If you’ve never been there Chandler O’Leary did a couple of excellent drawings of the interior so you’ll know what to expect when you DO go there (and you should).
Chandler O’Leary, by the way, is a local Tacoma artist who has a very cool blog called “Drawn the Road Again” where she makes quite excellent illustrations of her many travels.
She also runs Anagram Press, a Tacoma letterpress printing company. You should really check that out. Chandler also just happened to design the Pint Defiance Logo. Plus, she and a friend of hers are the team behind the “Dead Feminists” series of prints.
Schmancy’s “Plush You!” exhibit/sale is happening this year on October 13th from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM. I can’t find much information about the actual event on Schmancy’s website, but there is a Facebook event about it.
I am in awe of Suami, the Vietnamese artist who crochets tiny things. I mean tiny. Here is the tiniest Totoro:
The Tiniest Totoro
Yes, that is a human finger upon which the tiniest Totoro is standing. Look at your own finger. Look at your fingernail. Imagine a Totoro about that size, maybe a little smaller. Now image crocheting that.
