Today I find myself in a hotel filled with business types and once-jocks, the constituency of this region (I am very close to Notre Dame University). The key of staying in these types of hotel and avoid the crowd is to always eat the free breakfast later, around 9 am, right before they close it. It is still not even 7:30 am, so here I am blogging. But this will be quick, as I have a million things to do and achieve today, and I am anxious to get going (so I might have to eat with aforementioned once-jocks).
Yesterday, after a morning filled with errands (bank, AIDS Walk office check drop off, Utrecht Art Supply shopping for D-lectricity, Starbucks fake trifecta run, and studio and car packing), I found myself and my trusty Fiona heading out of town, destination: Indiana. This is the second time I come here in 6 months, the last time being on my way to a Chicago/Columbia College trip, where I stopped by to see the gallery in the flesh, so to speak. I am here to install a solo exhibition, consisting of large-scale paintings (large to me), drawings, and videos. Somehow the whole show fit in my car, with the passengers seats folded down. Every time I think about getting a new car, specially now that I need a new set of tires and do the 40 K revision (about $200) I ask myself "can the Prius fit the same amount of crap in the back?". Maybe the answer is yes, but I have yet to go to the dealership and ask them.
The trip was uneventful, though slightly boring, and I was oh so sleepy, which is unusual. I left my studio at 12:16, and arrived at the hotel at 3:42, not bad, if you include a pit stop to the bathroom and caffeine purchase. I think everyone feels that way, but as I drove through Indiana (where I stopped, though did not get gas, too expensive), I had in my mind "I'm so glad I live in Michigan and not here", though I suspect a lot of people say they are glad they live wherever besides Michigan. Is this when you realize a place is actually home?
The place the Art department booked me in (I am showing at the Hammes Gallery, part of the Moreau Galleries complex on the campus of St. Mary's College, an all-girl religious institution - already had a nun encounter, survived despite creepy doll one of them held). The hotel is your usual affair, but fortunately they also have Aveda products. As I approach my 39th birthday I realize I've become shamelessly like my father, and this morning I found myself emptying a bottle of shampoo into one I brought with me, so that I get it refilled this morning during room service and have more to take home (all this for the sake of saving money, even after the $150 three haircut incident last month). I emailed Tiffany, the gallery director, and she called me right back explaining where to go to meet her on campus.
The campus is small but lovely, though I did manage to get lost a few times already and ended up by this beautiful but very Catholic cemetery. I finally made it to the gallery and met Tiffany, a very nice lady (I believe she is new here, and this is her first year doing the gallery - she's an Art Historian). I immediately got a good vibe from her. The gallery looked larger and nicer than I remember, the floors that natural 60s terrazzo polished look, white walls with black ceiling without tiles (very institutional), but with great frameless glass doors that add a touch of elegance to the place. My gallery is right in front of a larger one, where works by two artists are on display (that I found extremely interesting, too bad they already installed and I did not get a chance to meet them). After showing me the loading dock and how to get there, I drove the car around and with a dolly and three trips in the elevator, I brought all the stuff to the gallery. I immediately laid stuff out.
Tiffany brought in the flat screen monitors and the projector I will be using, and told me student workers would patch paint the wall and install the TVs sometime at night. Thirty minutes out of Detroit-metro I realized I forgot to bring metal pushpins to install the drawing mural, so I asked her where I could get some (she told me the name of a town nearby). I laid out the show a few different times, and I am still not sure about its flow. Today I hope that, with fresher eyes, it will all come to me. I am not sure how much or how little help I will get today in installing. I was under the impression that the students would hang everything, but now it sounds like I will be doing all the work, and they will come by to help between classes. I have the whole day today, so it should be doable.
Much like right now, by 6:30 I was tired, hungry, and with a shopping list, so I made it back to the hotel and found where the stores were, and headed that way, first to Home Depot (to get dry wall nails and extension chords), and then to find metal pushpins. As I drove towards their mall hell, I realized that food was going to be an issue, as I only saw chain restaurants everywhere. The hotel does not seem to have room service either. I was thinking about Chipotle, because I accidentally ate there on my trip to Wittenberg (a year ago, to install another solo show in another religious university with a gallery in the midwest, my apparent target audience), so Chipotle was on my mind. But all I could see was Shake n' Bake (is that what it is called), McDees and Chick-Fill-A (no fucking way), so I got the stuff at the hardware store, they did not have pushpins, and headed back to Hobby Lobby, which was a total mistake, because that place literally makes me feel sick. The staff was unmotivated and the store confusing, I almost passed out at one point, and when I finally found the area, they did not have what I wanted. I drove to Office Max, and they did not have it, but told me about Office Depot, which was right next to Home Depot. I wanted to scream, but decided to walk over to JoAnne's Fabrics first, just in case. You know the answer to my question there: no. After screaming out loud for the first time ever "Jesus Fucking Christ" and immediately fearing being crucified (I for once felt foreigner again), I got back in my car and headed to Office Depot. As I said I little prayer to myself, "god, there must be a reason why I am driving back here", I looked over my shoulder and saw a Chipotle restaurant. I ran into Office Depot, they had beautiful metal pushpins, and then crossed over to Chipotle and order me a bowl to go. By the time I got to the hotel it was closer to 8:30 pm, so I ate in my room, and turned on the TV. Flashdance was showing, edited of course, and I felt nice and warm inside, thinking about my time living in Maine, when all we had in Winter months was Flashdance and The Sound of Music to entertain ourselves. I almost cried in a couple places, and like the main character, realized that life without dreams, and life without pursuing dreams, is not worth living.
Wish me good luck today ;-)
- posted via iPad
Location:U S 31 N - The Inn At St Mary's, Notre Dame,IN, United States
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