Opening!s: July 29-31, 2005

The events for July 29-31 plus an addendum from James Dozier.

Here are the headlines...

• Friday, July 29, 2005
  

  5pm-8pm

  Ambient Gallery: "Grand Opening Show"
  Grosse Pointe, MI

  6pm-9pm

  Susanne Hilberry Gallery: "Summer Pack 2" - featuring Matthew Blake, Mitch Cope, Shannon Goff, and Mona Shahid
  700 Livernoise, Ferndale, MI

  6pm-8pm

  Pewabic Pottery: "2005 Student, Staff, and Faculty Exhibition"
  10125 E. Jefferson Ave, Detroit, MI

  6:30pm-9pm

  Ellen Kayrod Gallery: Artist Lecture and Poetry Reading
  4750 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI

  7:30pm-12am

  Bankle Building: Detroit by Design "Detroit Skateboard Art and Culture Show"
  2944 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI

  8:30-2am

  Meetery Eatery: "PicNap Poetry Series - Passion Fruit: The Erotic Slam"
  5408 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI



• Saturday, July 30, 2005
  

  7pm-11pm

  Back Alley Bikes: "Bike Art Auction"
  3535 Cass Ave, Detroit, MI

  7pm-10pm

  Commonwealth Gallery: "Mothers of Invention" - group show
  5052 Commonwealth St, Detroit, MI



• Sunday, July 31, 2005
  

  2pm-5pm

  Art Exchange Gallery/Museum: "The Art of Celebration: Black and White Wedding Photography"
  2966 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI

  4pm-6pm

  Detroit: Harmonie Park: "Spoken Word"
  North of Gratiot on Randolph

  9pm-12am

  Redd Apple Gallery: "Open Mic Night"

• Saturday & Sunday, July 30-31, 2005
  

  12pm-?

  Zeitgeist Gallery: Barbeque and mosaic continuance
  2661 Michigan Ave, Detroit, MI 48216

Press Releases

• Fridays in July - Metropolitan Center for the Creative Arts (MCCA)
• Tuesdays and Thursdays in July and August - MCCA sponsors jazz and blues at Mt. Elliott Park from 6-8:30pm, bring a chair.
• Saturday, August 13, 2005 - The Fourth Annual Visual Jam Sessions and Fund Raiser at Zeitgeist Gallery.
• The Art Center unfolds "Out Of The Box" - a competition and exhibition.
• Alma Dance & Drum Company - community drumming Sundays 1:30-2:30pm @ Collingwood Arts Center, Toledo, OH.
• The Detroit Institute of Arts: "Beyond Big: Oversized Prints, Drawings and Photographs" last day of exhibition is July 31!

NETWORK/OPEN SHOOT: All invited Sunday in Detroit

Blasted Building,
uploaded by Fuzzytek.

I scheduled a model shoot scheduled for Sunday, July 31 in Detroit. The location is the same I used for Peggy's shoot last week. I began discussing the shoot with the model (Heather) and saw an opportunity to share a location. This location had an explosion and is being cleaned up so the opportunity for a shoot with the rubble around is disappearing. Catch it before it transforms into just another vacant lot in Detroit.

The opportunity is an Open Photo Shoot / Networking meeting. Let's see what happens when we come together - a networking opportunity for models, photogs, MUA, hair stylists... a chance for us to get to know more about each other and the scene we are part of in Detroit. I talked this up at the Bankle on Friday night - hoping 4-6 people from there will show as well.

What will you get from attending? The chance to work with and get to know people of varying skills, techniques, and personalities.

It would be HIGHLY desired to have some Graffiti artists decorate a vacant building in a way that the networking community can appreciate.

DIRECTIONS - UPDATE!
Where to gather - near Z's Villa. It is just west of the ruins on Picquette, east of Woodward. Click this link for a map from MapQuest. Written directions: Get to I-75 north of I-94 and take the Grand Blvd exit. Follow the service drive to Grand Blvd a couple blocks south. Make a right (east) on Grand Blvd. You'll travel about 7 streets to John R (before Woodward). Make a LEFT (south) on John R and go under the railroad tracks. You will pass the ruins on your left and Picquette is the street after. Make a right and you'll see Z's Villa. It will be closed unfortunately. You may want to bring a chair with you to have a seat outdoors - it's going to be a beautiful day! Mostly sunny skies and mid-80s with a 5mph wind.

Note: There are some minor health considerations on this location (Brush & Picquette). The building was a meat storage facility and the stench has risen now that over 3 weeks have passed. So rather than have you sick, limiting shoot time in the rubble will work best, but we can handle it in 30 minute waves. There are nearby places without the smell. The people cleaning up the site ask that we do not disturb the rubble. I've noticed the smell of natural gas in the area, so caution is imperative.

There are a lot of surrounding environments that are great for photos too (without the smell).

Post a comment or send me an email / note through MM, OMP if you'll be attending and I'll update this post with a list of who is coming.

The photos of this post I took using my cellphone Monday night as I walked past after dusk. I've also mixed in a few photos taken July 19.

Republished from July 26 original date. Updated July 30 @ 23:00

Model: Danelle

Danelle,
uploaded by Fuzzytek.

• Contact: One Model Place
• Danelle, 19 yrs old, OMP161228
• Location: Somerset Mall
• Date: March 14, 2005

Danelle stopped by and we went up to Somerset Mall about mid-morning. It was a good time of day for a shoot - there weren't many people in the mall yet. The lighting from outside was great.

We stayed in the south collection on the 1st floor and used the bathroom for a clothing change. Sad to say her bag of clothing that was left in the bathroom got turned in to security.

Fun photos in the collection... the moving sidewalk, and capturing her reflection on the pool (but the lighting didn't work too well and people in the area made it tough too).

Since this shoot, I've talked over doing future shoots with mall security and they don't allow it without going through their ad agency. So enjoy this one opportunity for an independent shoot at the Somerset South Collection.

Click here for a gallery of full-size images to order prints from. Click here for a slideshow of selected images from the shoot.

DJ: Rubén Montesco at FUSE-IN

Rubén Montesco at FUSE-IN,
uploaded by Fuzzytek.

I received an email today from a DJ in Spain. Rubén was at FUSE-IN, Sunday May 29 @ 6pm on the MusicLogical stage. I caught some incredible photos during his performance.

He's putting together his website now - so you'll probably see my photos there! Once I get the website address from him I'll put it in this post.

One more thing... I'm going back through the listings in the MUSIC category and putting photos in there for DJs and bands. This way you don't have to go through all the people photos to see the shots of the DJs.

Click here for photos on Smugmug, or click here for a slideshow of photos from Flickr.

Model: Becca

Becca M,
uploaded by Fuzzytek.

• Contact: One Model Place
• Becca, 18 yrs old, OMP185452
• Location: Cranbrook
• Date: July 20, 2005

Becca drove in from Grand Blanc - long drive and with construction on the way a bit confusing. When she got to my house we talked a little as I got things ready to go. We drove straight up to Cranbrook's north entrance and parked at the Science Museum. This was a different way to get to the nature trail than I've taken before, but it worked out perfectly. Sunlight was great, temperature was warm and there was a slight breeze. Perfect photo shoot conditions! The recent rain though had the bugs out biting.

Becca and I worked through some poses that were different for her and she did well moving as I asked. Sometimes it can be hard for the model to understand why twisting this way or that is needed. Lighting with leaves blowing in the trees can be kind of random too.

We took some photos over by the Art Museum next - I love the refecting pools there. The photos on the bench I think turned out great. We had a little difficulty getting the pose mimicking the statue as she was standing on the wall between pools. My camera acted up during that time too... it may be the camera got hot after running so long. I created a second folder on the memory stick and recorded the rest of the photos into it.

Our last 10 minutes of shooting was fast and I think we did well in the limited time.

Thanks Becca for a great shoot. Click here for a full gallery of the photos suitable for print. Click here for a gallery of web-size photos.

Model: Peggy

Real smiles rule,
uploaded by Fuzzytek.

• Contact: Model Mayhem
• Peggy Vee, 42 yrs old, MM2759, OMP132896
• Location: Detroit
• Date: July 19, 2005

Peggy and I had been passing notes back and forth about doing a photo shoot for a month or more. We didn't really have plans. Then I saw this "bombed out" building in Detroit on Saturday when Ed was driving back from Bleu. So I sent around a note to a few people, and Peggy stepped right up to the chance.

I have to say I've been impressed by the work I've seen of Peggy's. Naturally I told Ed & Jamie (Thought Collide) during our Living for Sundance meeting on Monday about the shoot. Ed said, "Bring her over, I'd love to meet her."

Jumping forward to Monday... I was clearing out things with Jamie at the house for eBay auctions. I gotta lighten up my possessions, especially if I am selling this house. Peggy came by as Jamie and I wrapped things up in the early afternoon. The timing was perfect.

She drove down to the area and we saw an empty doorframe near the location I had in mind. We stopped and investigated. WOW - WONDERFUL location - we spent 1.5 hours shooting around an abandoned assembly shop. Graffiti, rubble, low lighting and natural light, great combination of conditions. As we were wrapping up that location and talking about it I had thoughts of bringing fabric of different types back on a subsequent shoot... guaze, silk, burlap.

Then we drove over to the bombed out building. There were construction crews moving rubble while hoses were watering it down to prevent fires. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a natural gas leak in it. So we drove in and tried to hide the vehicle in the brush. Not long after starting to shoot we had a construction worker drive by and ask us not to disturb the rubble. He could tell we were just there to shoot photos. We wandered around a small but very rich area of the rubble and got some great photos. Our worker friend was hovering outside later, but things seemed OK with him.

NOTICE: This location is being cleaned up - which means ELIMINATED. If you want to do a shoot at this site CONTACT ME ASAP!

We wrapped up the shoot and Peggy drove me over to catch the bus home on Woodward. It was a great shoot and I really loved working with Peggy - she brought a love of the setting and creating beauty in the midst of chaos. I'll be using these locations again, definately! And I'd love to work with Peggy again before she moves to Florida. Click here for a full gallery of the photos suitable for print. Click here for a gallery of web-size photos.

Club: Donald Glaude and Charles Feelgood on July 16, 2005

Glaude-Scratching BACKWARDS,
uploaded by Fuzzytek.

A fantastic night with some very animated DJs. Glaude was on fire when behind the decks. It would have been great for the people on the dance floor to see the emotion he brought. Feelgood didn't slack either as you can see in the photo on the left.

Feelgood-goes boom,
uploaded by Fuzzytek.

I was travelling with Ed & Leanne and they were on the dance floor the whole night. They said they could tell where I was by looking up and seeing the laser pattern of my autofocus showing up here and there in the VIP area. Bleu's VIP area is a second floor that looks down on the dance floor, with the DJ booth on the edge of it and table seating behind the DJ.

I saw a lot of people I knew and met even more beautiful people. What I love about the EDM scene is the feeling of being alive and sharing that.

Opening!s: July 22-24, 2005

I get a few emails from James Dozier each week. His message is entitled "OPENING!S - an eclectic compilation of cultural events, by J.H. Dozier". I've asked him if I could host his messages in my blog. Click here to open the PDF published for details.

Here are the headlines...

• Friday, July 22, 2005

  3pm-5pm

  Arts Extended Gallery: "Bye-Bye to Leslie Reese"
  2966 Woodward Ave., 2nd floor, Detroit, (313.831.0321)

  6pm-9pm

  G.R. N'Namdi Gallery: "Sculpt Somth'n"; "Recent Paintings" - work by Heloisa Pomfret
  66 E. Forest Ave., Detroit, (313.831.8700)

  6pm-9pm

  Gallery Project: "Frames of Mind"
  215 S. Fourth St., Ann Arbor, (734.997.7012)

  6pm-9pm

  4731 Gallery: "Marvalisa"
  4731 Grand River Ave., Detroit, (313.894.4731)

  7:30pm-9:30pm

  Cranbrook Art Museum: "Twilight Music"
  39221 Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills, (248.645.3314)

  8pm-12am

  Meetery Eatery: "PicNap Poetry Series"
  5408 Woodward Ave., Detroit, (313.758.0136)

  10pm-2am

  Free Moon Family: "Magical Meat Feast"
  4811 Trumbull Ave., Detroit



• Saturday, July 23, 2005

  10am-5pm

  Richmond Area Art Association: "Art In Action"
  72600 Memphis Ridge, Richmond, (586.727.2626)

  12pm-12am

  Furnace Hot Glass Works: "BBQ, Beer & Tumblers"
  25331 Trowbridge St., Dearborn, (313.561.4527)

  5pm-2am

  Shack's House: 2nd Annual Reunion Party of the Tribes of Detroit: "Let's Get Together Before We All Die"
  3357 West Point St., Dearborn, (313.571.3645)



• Sunday, July 24, 2005

  9pm-12am

  Redd Apple Gallery: "Open Mic Night"

Additional Notes

From Zeitgeist Gallery, info: (313)965-9192; 2661 Michigan
Ave., Detroit, MI

Hello Artists and Lovers of Life,

The Visual Jam Sessions are off and running to a Grand start. Maurice and myself have perused our inventory of past collaborations and have saved the best for August 13th, 2005, the RECEPTION/FUND RAISER/SILENT AUCTION.

The other work that didn't make the grade is being assimilated, bopped, chopped and cropped into masterpieces.

We have many days left for you to add your spice and rice. Jack Johnson showed up last week and dropped off drawers, canvas, brushes, Boards, his two cents, and some of his work to play with. Thank you Jack.

Diana Alva, Julie Russel Smith, Robert Hyde, Vito Valdez, Hector Perez, Jim Dozier were also by to dance with the paint and add to the process.

Alva and Dozier are collaborating digitally. Collaboration is a process which I have been involved with for about 15 years.

We are waiting for you to come down and work with us, help us to make this the best collaboration show yet.. Work in your studios and pass it on to someone you trust. Get it to us the week prior to August 13.

The pieces should be ready for hanging. Or come down and Jam, It's just great fun. This week you have Saturday and Sunday, July 23 & 24 12pm - 4pm or later. I will keep you informed about next weeks schedule.

We are having a barbecue weekend to work on the back wall mozaic July 30 and 31, but that is a mail for another time ... Peace!

Collaboratingly Yours,
Jim Puntigam
zeit geist

Metropolitan Center for the Creative Arts: 6911 E. Lafayette, Detroit

Hey members of the creative class,

Every Friday in the month of July all artists and creative types are invited to the Metropolitan Center for the Creative Arts. OK, even those who like to collect Art, you are REALLY invited. So come by and enjoy some good conversation, we'll have a slide projector available to show slides that you might bring, or if you've got a good cd and want to hear it on our system, basically anything goes. About 5pm to 8pm; Free. We have good cold beverages to drink. 6911 E. Lafayette @Canton @blks [w] of E. Grand Blvd. Call Pervis at 313-259-3200 for more info. Or if you wanna do something really crazy, you better call first. See ya.

Model: Maria

Maria,
uploaded by Fuzzytek.

• Contact: Model Mayhem
• Maria, 18 yrs old, MM14806, OMP184769
• Location: Royal Oak and Cranbrook
• Date: July 7, 2005

Maria brought her sister Rose on the shoot with us, which was quite helpful. Sometimes we're just grabbing stuff and running to the next shoot location.

We started off the shoot climbing up to the railroad tracks near my home. I have to reflect back on this... Maria could have fallen, gotten scrapped up, etc - she came through it great. We had an Amtrak train come through during the time we were there, too bad it wasn't a freight train that could have been in the picture longer. Rose had a surprise walking back to the car - a stick punctured the rubber sole of her flip-flops. Thankfully it just got stuck under her foot, not into her foot.

We drove off to my favorite photo site - Cranbrook. First time shoot for me on the nature trail. I think as the weather progresses there are going to be more bugs in there. Maria let us know in a startled way of her fear of spiders as she was holding a branch of a tree containing some large spiders. She also got a few bites on the arm. I really do have to be careful the sequence of locations - something to consider.

We then went for the architecture. It was a bit rushed at the end since she had a babysitting appointment immediately following the shoot. I'd like to do a follow-up shoot with more architecture areas and into some downtown areas too. Perhaps some funkier, edgy clothes too.

Maria is a very photogenic person. She has a great smile and brings it out easily. She takes direction well and is creating her own poses along the way. As I tell all the models I work with - it's all about creating lines in the frame that lead the eye around.

Here are some random photos from the shoot. Click here for a full gallery of photos.

Club: Josh Wink at Bleu July 9

JoshWink,
uploaded by Fuzzytek.

I could REALLY use a partner to write club reviews! I spend a lot of time spent processing photos, and the pace of taking the photos is pretty rapid. I would like to do a better job of getting the names of people that are in each photo. Then I can create searchable photos based on your name.

Shawn Michaels opened and built up some fantastic energy. It was one of the best sets I've heard Shawn play. Josh Wink then came on and kept people out on the dance floor having a great time. He played the track "Higher State of Conciousness" which was on one of the first electronica CDs I picked up... Urbal Beats, Vol. 1.

Random photos from the night. Click here for a full-size gallery of photos, suitable for prints.

Model: Gab & Jaime

Gabrielle,
uploaded by Fuzzytek.

• Contact: Model Mayhem
• Gabrielle, 14 yrs old, MM721, OMP103810
• Jaime, 14 yrs old, MM713, OMP102684
• Location: Birmingham & Cranbrook
• Date: July 5, 2005

I had a fantastic time with Gabrielle & Jaime and their moms Debbie & Cathy. Gabrielle and Jaime are cousins. They came over and picked me up from home. We drove over to Somerset Mall first to look around and potentially shoot a bit. Well as the girls were in the bathroom getting ready I checked with mall security and was told no - I had to have permission first. So I have to call Mall Management during business hours. I did that a couple days later and found they want $2500 for a shoot at the mall. Shoots are arranged through their advertising agency.

The girls wanted a drink, after the long drive from Flint I would guess so! I directed Cathy to drive into downtown Birmingham and we walked from the Palladium parking garage to Starbucks. I took a few photos on the street.

Next stop - Cranbrook! We drove up Woodward to Lone Pine Rd and parked near the resident housing. First we made a left and took photos along the way toward the football field. Then doubled back to the art museum and it's reflecting pools. Everyone had fun on the trip, the girls at times played around a bit, which really kept the mood fun. Who can resist "fish-lips"?

Here's a random selection of photos posted to Flickr. View the full gallery of web-sized photos posted to Smugmug.

Club: Terrence Parker TasteFest Afterparty July 2

Terrence Parker,
uploaded by Fuzzytek.

Location: Northern Lights Lounge

After The Brazilian Girls were done I had to either 1) find a way to Bleu for Seb Fontaine or 2) stick around the New Center area at the official Comerica TasteFest after party. Since I saw people in the streets headed to Northern Lights Lounge, that was my destination. Thanks Erin and friends for leading the way.

I walked in and there was my good friend Ed sitting at a table and Kelley was there too. Then Jani and Sarah and ... well it was like so many friend circles all intermingled on a location that I'd never been to before.

The music played by Terrence Parker and DJ Trench kept people on the floor dancing around and the conversations around the bar were lively.

Here are some random photos from the night. Click here to view a gallery of full sized photos available for print.

Band: The Brazilian Girls - Comerica Tastefest

The Brazilian Girls,
uploaded by Fuzzytek.

I had a fantastic day at the Comerica TasteFest in Detroit's New Center area. If you missed yesterday you still have a couple more days - it is held July 1-4 this year.

Below are some random photos from The Brazilian Girls performance. You can order photo prints through my Brazilian Girls gallery. The link off the post title takes you to a general gallery of photos from the TasteFest including those of The Brazilian Girls. So you'll find things from Sunday as well.

Note: If you are in media and desiring to run print of my photos or republish on the web please contact me.

Visit http://www.braziliangirls.info to know more about the band.

Club: Delux after Detroit Fireworks

Note: this post will be revised in format and content to match the prevailing theme of posts.

After the fireworks Steve, Dani and I headed to Delux. I walked in and there's Drew and Erica - I had no idea it was their event. So I'm feeling very welcomed, pull out the camera and start taking photos. Great music playing, dancing, just a great fun group of people - many whom I know through DetroitClubScene.

Click here for the gallery