Hi all, this site is being severely ignored lately because I now have TWO other sites that I’m working on.  The first, as mentioned before, is my First Fridays in Kansas City Review blog, which takes a look at several shows in the monthly Kansas City openings.  The second site is my project for my thesis.  It is called The Print Perspective, and is a website dedicated to the medium of printmaking.  It will feature frequent stories about people and organizations working with printmaking, and essays/opinion articles, and some resource material.  Give it a look!

The photo project has been on hold for quite a while now, but that’s ok. It’s something that can be developed over a span of years when I need a quick project to fill the time. In the meantime I have been turning my attention to my thesis project, and my new blog which takes a look at some of the shows in the Kansas City First Friday openings. It can be found at www.firstfridayskcreview.blogspot.com
Add it to your news feed and see new reviews each month!

Still on the hunt for interesting photo spots.  The other day I was riding in North Lawrence and saw what looked to be an old storefront on the far east edge of town by the traintracks.  It looks like it might be from the 30’s or possibly before, and has a bunch of junked out cars from the 50’s penned up next to it underneath a bramble of trees.  Probably be worth looking into the history behind the lot and what used to go on there because it is right next to the train tracks.  Might have been an important location back in the days. 

I also just tried my first attempt at low-light photography in a sealed-off basement of a downtown building.  The only point of access is through a small manhole, and I took the photos by very dimly lighting the area with small flashlights and doing 30 second exposures.  It worked out ok, but these digital cameras make everything so confusing that the shots all came out a little blurry.  I turned off the auto focus in the camera settings because the camera wouldn’t take a picture without being able to focus on anything, but I forgot to turn it off on the lens so I could manually crank the focus.   It was also challenging not being able to really see anything through the viewfinder.  But I at least got a few useable shots.  I was disappointed that the basement was so small.  I thought that it would run the whole length of the building, but it turned out to be only three small rooms towards the back of the building.  Still, it was a very interesting spot in a building that has to be over 100 years old.  Hopefully some research will turn up some interesting facts, such as what it may have been used for and how long these rooms have been more or less cut off from above ground access.  A small staircase leading up to the ceiling showed that it was at one time accessible before being floored over and forgotten in the subterranean lair of Lawrence.

So recently I decided I want to start doing a fun little photographic project.  One day at work I got to thinking about all the interesting and unusual sites that are all around us every day, but we never know they exist because they are in buildings we never enter.  In particular I was thinking about buildings that no one enters.  The forgotten places that are completely out of our thoughts until someone points them out.  I don’t want to go into too many specifics about the places I am thinking of because it could possibly ruin the surprise of seeing the photos if I ever get a show of them together.  I am calling the project Hidden History, and it will be called that until I think up a better name, or I forget about the project all together. 

Here’s a few previews of photos that I may include in the series.  They’re not exactly what I’m envisioning doing for the project, but they are closely related.  If I thought it would be worth the effort, I would have gotten permission to go inside the abandoned Chinese restaurant to take pictures.  But I didn’t bother because it seems like I can’t even go one day without seeing an abandoned pile of crab rangoons and fried dumplings.  Nothing special about that.  Anyway, here’s the pics.

So in advertising class last week they were talking about the idea of using storytelling in advertisements.  It makes sense, but I’ve been kind of bored through the recent segment of the class because they’ve been going over all these techniques on how to be “creative”.  Not only do I not feel the need for  any help being “creative”, but the exercises they did were so easy I didn’t even bother trying.  Free association and free writing exercises, stuff like that. 

Advertising doesn’t seem hard at all to me.  I can go through all the formal processes they were laying out in my head and cut the chase.  Just come up with something wacky and keep tweaking it till it makes sense.  I don’t know, working on ads would either be insanely fun for me, or a terrible drag, it’s hard to say. 

Anyway, the whole point of this is we were asked to write a story based on one of four words.  I chose the word “concentration” and came up with the following story.  After I finished it I gave it a look over and decided it wasn’t half bad for a first draft short story based off of a single word.  So here it is:

The buzzing sound of tires on hot asphalt faded to the back of Jackson’s mind.  All external noises were now blended into a white hum that was drowned out by the steady, rhythmic sound of his breathing and the pounding of each valve in his heart.  It was the only thing he was able to focus on that could distract his attention from the fire creeping up his legs.  Each turn of the bike pedals was accompanied by a searing pain that ran the length of his leg.  It had begun as a tingling sensation near his ankles.  Now, nearly an hour later, it felt as if his quadriceps were separating themselves from his skeleton and his calves had turned to quivering lumps of gelatin.  But still, he kept pedaling, and the tires continued to sing the same soft song at a constant pitch as he rounded the long curve.

            His mind drifted back to the starting line.  What was it like all the way back there at the beginning?  Had he truly been prepared for the type of pain he was now facing?  Wasn’t it nice to sit at the start with the anticipation of riding your first 150-mile race?  It was surely nicer than the ugly reality of almost being finished with it.  He knew he was within the last two miles of the race, almost there, but then the pain began to creep back into his consciousness, making each push like a self-inflicted knife wound. 

            “Try to focus on the breathing again” Jackson thought to himself.  His tongue and lips tried to form the words, but only noiselessly flapped in exhaustion.  It was no use.  His breathing only reminded him of the rhythmic pain pulsating in his legs, but he was able to overcome it by imagining calm, golden sunbeams shining through a window in the afternoon. 

            His bike was nearing the end of the long curve which he knew led to the final stretch. 

            “How far back are the other riders?” he thought.  “Is there anyone else in front of me?”  He couldn’t remember and quickly pushed those worries out of his mind, returning to the small grid of light created by the window the sunlight in his mind shined through.  It created a small rectangle composed of six smaller illuminated rectangles that, if watched long enough, could be seen creeping across the hardwood floor away from him as the day passed.  Jackson found some type of comfort in these things, such as trying to watch the moon move through the night sky.        No matter how hard you stared at that bright disk in the blackness it was almost impossible to detect any motion, but by checking against a point of reference such as a roof eave or a tree, the moon always was definitely moving.  Slowly and steadily, it traced an arc across the night sky just as it has for eons. 

            The moon never got tired, and Jackson needed that kind of determination to finish this race.  The final stretch was a long, low grade hill that demoralized the rider with each foot travelled up it.  Jackson had some idea of what he was in for from his training runs on the course, but he hadn’t pushed himself as hard in training as he had during the race.  Or maybe he had pushed himself too hard in training and not given his leg muscles ample time to recover.  Jackson knew he had a bad habit of pushing himself too hard through the pain, and had probably caused his joints and ligaments to suffer damage that hurt him in the long run, but now was not the time to give up that habit.  The finish line was in sight!

            The red banner across the crest of the hill marked the finish to this grueling journey, but like seeing the light at the end of a tunnel, the view of the finish makes the distance to the goal seem deceptively short.  Jackson lowered his head and pumped harder in an effort to sustain the speed he had been travelling at before the hill, which turned out to be a mistake.  The pain in his thighs was so severe it almost caused him to fall sideways.  Plus he accidentally looked at his legs and allowed his mind to focus on the knotted balls of muscle on his extremities.  He raised his head slightly and evened his pace, focusing his vision on the ground directly in front of his tire.

            The asphalt passing before his eyes reminded him of time-lapsed photos of stars blurring across the sky.  The stars themselves didn’t move.  That motion was caused by the rotation of the Earth.  The pavement wasn’t moving, it appeared to move because of the rotation of his wheels.  The surface of the tire, like the surface of the Earth, spun and spun and spun.  Jackson rarely considered the fact that the planet was spinning him through space.  How was his body moving in relation to space as he moved across the surface of this rotating object? 

            “No, don’t answer that” he thought.  “Just focus on what is in front of you.  There are no other riders, there is only you now.  This will not last forever, the race will be over.  You have no legs.  You have no arms or body.  You feel weightless.  Just watch as the ground passes beneath you.  You don’t have to keep those wheels spinning as long as the Earth has rotated on its axis.  You will make it.  You will make it.”

            Jackson’s mind faded into this mantra as he entered the final 100 meters.  He thought about after the race.  He thought about going home.  You will make it.  He thought about his room in the back of the house, his fortress of solitude.  He thought about how when this was all over he would enter his room and lay on the bed until he was ready to get up.  You will make it.

            He would lay there for a whole day if he wanted to, maybe even two days, but he wouldn’t have to use his legs at all.  There he would lay in a state of bliss, with the knowledge that he had finished the race, that he had made it.  You will make it.

            He would be able to lay there and watch the sun beam shine through the window around eleven o’clock.  It would begin on the wall by the head of the bed, cast as a rectangle composed of six smaller rectangles.  By one o’clock it would have shifted to the foot of the bed, partially on the floor and partially on the white bed sheets.  By late afternoon it would begin creeping up the wall, and take on a darker golden-yellow hue that nicely complemented the steel blue paint.  You will make it.

            And after the sunbeam disappeared towards the top of the wall, he would be able to see the stars, and maybe the moon if it was the right time of year, pass by the window panes in their silent journey across the sky.  Yes, you will make it.

            Jackson thought about all of this as he continued to focus on the road in front of him, and all of a sudden there was a yellow flash.  A bright yellow stripe passed through his field of vision and went underneath the surface of his tires.  The finish line.  He had made it. 

            Raising his head, he saw a small crowd had gathered and was clapping.  He still couldn’t hear outside noises very well, but made his best attempt at a smile.  Off to the side were three or four other riders who had finished and lay on the ground next to their bikes, not moving at all.  He let the tension drain from his legs and the rest of his body, and as he continued to coast down the shallow backside of the hill he let the air flow easily into his lungs.  He was not first, but he didn’t care.  He was finished and now free to bask in his own satisfaction.  He wheeled off to the side of the road and collapsed in the shade of a tall oak, letting his body melt into the cool soil below it and staring up through the dancing leaves while the light shone through them. 

Art KC 365 wrote a review of the show.  It’s pretty interesting, and I think it does a good job of describing the work without talking literally about what it looks like.

http://ereview.org/2010/04/07/rise-of-the-urborgs-matt-kuhlman/

So the show was pretty fun.  The work seemed to be well received by a lot of people.  Thanks to everyone who made it out.  For those who didn’t make it, here’s a few shots of the installation that I took before it opened.

It was cool to see people’s reactions to some of the unshown work.  Perhaps one of the most popular pieces was my mythical 8 foot long linoleum print depicting a transition from the city-chaos of New York to the tranquil fields of Lecompton.  One of the panels from that series sold, but no worries, it’s an edition of 4. 

The third picture with the light beams was another newer and never before seen work.  Personally, it’s one of my favorites, but I think people preferred the canvas work I completed over the winter.  Anyhow, the show is still up until April 23, and is available by appointment.  Contact Hannah Mott at 816-929-5930 or at plenumspacekc@gmail.com to make an appointment.

Also, blurb has a new ‘widget’ feature that allows me to embed a preview of my book nyc 2008, so here it is.

http://www.blurb.com/books/949753

http://www.lawrence.com/podcasts/add/2010/mar/29/spontaneous-construction-lawrence-artist-matt-kuhl/

Here’s the ADD podcast for my show this Friday!  ADD is done by Jason Barr, an old friend of mine from KU, and features local Lawrence artists and art related people.  If you like it, continue to check it out.  He usually has about one feature a week, and he includes some great samples in the interview.

Plans are moving along with the upcoming First Friday show in April.  The dates and times have been confirmed.  The opening reception will be Friday, April 2 from 6 to 10 pm.  The show will be available by appointment for three weeks until the 23rd.  It’s at Plenum Space Gallery, 504 E. 18th St., Kansas City, MO.  Don’t know exactly where that is?  It’s called Mapquest. 

The gallery is in an unassuming looking building just across the street from Grinders and Pi gallery.  There’s usually an open garage door with a ceramics and pottery display open in the lower level of the building, and right next to that is a red door that leads upstairs to my show.  If you get to the Slap and Tickle gallery, you’ve passed Plenum Space.  I’ll try to have a sign on the sidewalk or something to make it easy to find, but not being familiar with the neighborhood is no reason to not make it to the show.  Where’s your sense of adventure?  Leave the GPS unit at home!  Go out and explore!

There will be some exciting never before seen work at the show.  The eight-foot-long linoleum print “Country to City” will be on display for the first time ever!  “Country to City” a panoramic image composed of eight 1-square-foot linoleum blocks that transitions from a country pasture to the increasingly jumbled and un-organic city scene.  It was a carving I began while in New York, so I began with the city block first and then worked backward, coincidentally finishing with the country end of the image after returning to Lecompton.  Because of is unweildy size, I have never properly documented the piece, so it is not on my site anywhere.   Come and give it a look!

Also on display will be four of the cityscape panels, which have never been shown.  Those, however, are featured in my online portfolio.  The newest piece I’ve made, featured in my last entry, will be there, along with some previously displayed work. 

I almost forgot that there will be one other never before seen piece making its debut at this show.  The intaglio print titled “Buildings 1″ on my site has been revisited, reworked, and transformed into the new piece “Light Beam”.  I’m not going to give you a description for free, but the addition of some gouache and colored pencil has brought that print to its final state.  Gotta come see it to find out what it’s all about!

Well, back to the grind.  See you in April!