Cheers,
3 Blondes & a Bald Guy

It’s here. The moment you have all been waiting for. Not only was our installation at Art on Track a huge success with the general public, but we are pleased to announce that a prestigious jury of well known artists and critics chose our Art on Track installation for the first prize, which includes the snazzy title of North American Arts Champion!

For those of you who couldn’t make it to the event itself, we have posted photos, videos and other misc media documentation of the event below. (There’s a lot of media. If it doesn’t load, please hit refresh).

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our generous sponsors, Columbia College Chicago, including the following:

Office of Academic Affairs
Office of Alumni Relations
Department of Exhibitions & Performances Spaces
Build Shop
Interdisciplinary Arts Department
Art & Design Digital Print Center
Theater Department
Center for Book & Paper Arts

Furthermore, we couldn’t have pulled off this production without some amazing volunteers, who we would like to thank individually:

Kelli Cousins, performing as “The Commuter”
Loni Diep, performing as “The Knitter”
Martin Narrod, performing as “The Bathroom Guy”
Pam Grossmann, for assistance with the de-installation
The family of Erin Cramer, for contributing objects for casting
Jenny Learner, for contributing studio and equipment access
Zvonimir Nagy, for late night transportation
Ronda Dibbern & Mason Payne, for carpet contributions
Square Deal Shoes, for costume contributions

Last but not least, we’d like to thank some of the shakers and movers for this event:

Tristan Hummel and the whole Art on Track gang (including all it’s various sponsors), for organizing AoT and keeping us fed, informed and happy.
All the press (and we’re happy to say there are too many to list!), for working around our crazy schedules to interview our group and spread the word about our installation.

To all the people who came out to see our show, who “ate” our cookies, interacted with our performers and documented the show – thank YOU for making this event such a success!

Cheers,
3 Blondes & a Bald Guy

P.S. Please keep checking back – we have several upcoming posts including a forthcoming interview on WTTW11′s Fear No Art Chicago, footage on Sixty Inches From Center, follow up articles about Erin Cramer’s casting process, our own video footage from the event, and much more!

Flickr slideshow of ‘Encroachment’ installation from 3 Blondes & a Bald Guy:
(To see pictures along with descriptions, view the images directly on our Flickr set: Art on Track 2010).

You can browse more photos of all eight cars on Flickr, searching under “Art on Track 2010″

Side show of the pre-event installation from Sixty Inches From Center:

Slide show of the event from Sixty Inches From Center:

Video footage of the event from Shellie Lewis:

Video footage of the event from Michael Lehet:

Video footage of the event from Scott P. Wheeler on Facebook.

Listen to the Radio interview with Art on Track founder Tristan Hummel on NPR’s Eight Forty-Eight segment, Art Exhibition Circles the Loop.

Did you pick up a copy of this morning’s Chicago Sun Times? Guess who is front page news with a full page interior spread? If you didn’t see it, you can read a copy of the online article here (although the digital version doesn’t have the photos of our group that the print version has).

This is a really well written article about Art on Track with a great quote from our curator, Stephen DeSantis, talking about our installation “Encroachment”:

“As artists, we were all fascinated by this notion that public transit is one area where everyone inserts themselves into the public environment and yet still carries with them aspects of the private life and where they are coming from…”.

Looking forward to this Saturday – we hope to see you there!

Cheers,
3 Blondes & a Bald Guy

P.S. That’s our Jackie painting cookies for our “kitchen”!

Check here to read our interview with Killswitch Collective, which is the second article in their Perspectives series about Art on Track.

(The first interview with Art on Track founder, Tristan Hummel, can be found here.)

While you are at it, watch the video below of the first installment in the two part series about Art on Track on Fear No Art Chicago‘s show “Art Scene”. Be sure to also read Elysabeth’s blog post about her interview with us! Expect the second installment, including our own video interview and footage from the event itself, during the week of August 16th.

Cheers,
3 Blondes & a Bald Guy

Breaking News! 3 Blondes & a Bald Guy have been interviewed for WTTW 11′s “Fear No Art Chicago” segment with local celebrity, Elysabeth Alfano. Elysabeth has been described as the Rachel Ray of Chicago’s Art Scene. We had a blast taking her down to our studio and giving her a behind the scenes tour of our Art on Track installation.

Please, subscribe to our blog or fan us on Facebook so you can be the first to know when this segment goes on the air sometime next Monday or Tuesday. In the meantime, please enjoy some candid shots of the ‘paparazzi’ filming our team!

Cheers,
3 Blondes & a Bald Guy

Artist Erin Cramer strikes a pose in front of “Bertha”, the beater which she is using to making pulp out of natural fibers for her paper casting process. As you can see, it’s a noisy process, so Erin has to wear protective gear to safeguard her hearing.

Just wait until you see Erin’s unique contribution to our art car. Paper casting allows her to create life-size, realistic sculptures and objects at a fraction of the weight.

Lesson to anyone interested in installing on a CTA car? the lighter, the better! Paper is the perfect medium for this kind of installation.

Cheers,
3 Blondes & a Bald Guy

P.S. Interested in learning more about a real pulp beater works? Check out this video:

P.P.S. Interested in paper casting? Check back – we promise to upload some of our own footage of Erin’s process of creating paper cast artworks!

Preparations for Art on Track are well under way. Materials have been ordered and the final measurements are being checked and double checked. So if you ride the orange line and you’ve seen a group of blondes and a bald guy measuring the windows, seats and doors on the way to Midway – that’s us! Be sure to say hello.

Cheers,
3 Blondes & a Bald Guy

However, Columbia isn’t the only local organization willing to help our project become a reality. Some exciting things are in the works – expect more news on this front in the near future!

And speaking of more news, did you know you can subscribe to our website to get updates on our project? Click the RSS feed on the right to keep tabs us.

Cheers,
3 Blondes & a Bald Guy

Cheers,
3 Blondes & a Bald Guy