Since the days when I started this blog, 14 months ago, I’ve been following other bloggers in the visual arts community scattered throughout the Carolinas – one being Machinations of a Distracted Mind: The Studio Blog of Christopher Rico, an abstract artist living and working in Clinton, SC. You all know where Clinton, SC, is right? Clinton is the town to the west of the big split entering Upstate SC – go right on I-26 and you head to Spartanburg, SC, and go left on I-385 and you’ll head towards Greenville, SC.
Most people only know of a handful of cities in SC. That would be Charleston, Columbia and Greenville – the big three and then Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach. The next grouping would be Spartanburg, Aiken, Rock Hill, Florence, Sumter and Clemson – just because they have a football team. If you have an advanced degree in SC, you might know that North Charleston is the third largest city in SC, but hardly anyone knows that or wants to admit to it. It’s all about disrespect. None of these cities or areas of the state want to admit that there is anywhere else. So, if you are one of the many small towns in SC – forget about it – you don’t count. Well you do, but not in most people’s eyes. It really takes an outsider to see the beauty in most of these small towns.
And, if you are an artist – living and working in one of these small towns – heaven help you – you’re gonna need it. Christopher Rico is one of these artists, with the added burden of being an abstract artist. That means 99 percent of the public will look at one of his paintings and say, “What is it? I don’t recognize anything.”
Now one plus that Clinton has going for it is that it is also the home of Presbyterian College – which has an arts center, teaches art and has an art gallery. A lot of these small towns in SC don’t have that going for them. But, there is no arts council, no artists’ guild, and no commercial art galleries – which could be a plus or minus – depending on how you view these types of organizations. And, without these typical non-profits – that means no SC Arts Commission support, or for that matter, interest. The Commission has too many larger communities and organizations crying for their support and interest. This could also be a plus or a minus – depending on how you view the SC Arts Commission. You want to know what I think? No – you already know – OK. Good, that means I’m doing a good job.
What’s this all about anyway?
A few days ago I received an e-mail from Rico that he had gotten permission to use a certain facility in Clinton to do what he had mentioned on his blog to be – The Shoot. This was an idea to document some of his recent work in a big empty space. He had gotten permission from Presbyterian College to use a building complex which used to be a Presbyterian Home in Clinton, but has been gutted to be remodeled to become the new Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy. The Shoot was going to take place on July 23, 2009, starting at 7pm and Rico wondered if I would be interested in attending. He had a friend from Atlanta, GA, who was bringing a friend of his (Howie and Justin) to shoot still images for a book, video images and tape an interview in this space.
Would I be interested in coming? Boy, I get asked that question a lot. A lot of people are always asking whether I would be interested in doing a story about them in Carolina Arts, coming to see their exhibit, viewing some group project or any number of other things. My standard answer is – I’m always interested – it’s a matter of if it’s possible – considering time and distance.
Clinton is three good hours away from the headquarters of Carolina Arts located on the southern shore of Lake Moultrie. Not impossible in light of my usual travels around the Carolinas. I’ve gone much, much farther in a single day for a single event. That day would fall in one of my in-between times of the month and I had all my work for the August ’09 web version of Carolina Arts caught up. And, I had interest in seeing Rico’s project, his studio, meeting him face to face and seeing his works up close – especially the most recent works from the Forest and the Sea series. I like a lot of Rico’s work, but I was really liking what I was seeing of these on his blog. The only snag was I made the mistake of thinking the begin time was 7am – not 7pm. Instead of a day trip this was going to be an – end of the day and into the night trip. This trip would be not unlike most of my delivery trips, but in this case instead of sleeping all afternoon and then getting up to travel – this would be a long day – 19 hours in fact. Still, a few hours shorter than Rico and his friends spent working and traveling and about the equivalent of some of my other delivery days.
I arrived in Clinton a little before 7pm and met with Rico at the site. The building was amazing – room after room of textured walls – big blank walls – an artist’s dream. I soon moved from observer to participant. I just can’t stand by and not pitch in when help is needed, so I helped unload some paintings from a truck to inside locations. Participation is always better than observation. And, before long I was sweeping a pathway clear, pushing a dolly for pan shots (the 7th time was the trick), and just overall lending a hand where needed. And, I did all of this while asking questions and taking a few photos. It was very hot, but also interesting and fun. It’s not often I get to participate in a production like this. Rico’s friend and his friend had brought a lot of professional grade equipment with them – an HD video camera, all kinds of lighting, a top end digital camera, and bags and bags of other equipment. I’m hoping for a credit in the final production as – Best Boy or at least #1 Sweeper. Of course the union would only let me work until 11pm as I needed to be at another job site the next morning and I still had a three hour drive back home.
The last light of the day.
Christopher Rico placing one of his paintings.
The long hallway view.
I, for one, can’t wait to see the final results of this project – it will be enhanced by the fact that I was one of a handful of people who saw a part of the production process. Rico and the other two worked until 3am Friday morning. I’m not sure how much more time was spent finishing the overall project, but I know all three were in this for the long haul – no matter what it took. So the results should be interesting.
Rico placing more paintings.
The dolly that would make 7 trips down the hallway.
You can see a posting of the event by Rico on his blog at this link. And you can see some of my images here.
Will Clinton, SC, ever be an arts destination? I don’t think so, but you never know – anything is possible. One thing is for sure, any place, no matter how small or how far out of the way, can be an interesting place for an art event – as long as creative people make it happen. It’s just too bad that many people and some people in the arts who should know better – don’t expect anything interesting to happen in places they have no interest in or have had no hand in the process. That’s a flaw on their part – they’re not very creative in their thinking anyway.
The question is – “Why do artists keep trying, keep creating, keep hoping?” It’s like that tree that falls in the forest – that no one seems to have heard. Christopher Rico created an art event in Clinton, SC, on a construction site. And, just because the powers that control funding and the exhibit spaces in SC didn’t participate doesn’t mean it didn’t take place and it wasn’t important. It just means they’re not doing what they are getting paid to do by the taxpayers in SC and America – to support artists in the creation or art and make it available to the general public – in large and small communities alike.
The good thing is – many artists will not wait for approval or funding – they can’t help but be creative. Unlike those artists who just create when they get a grant.
The unfortunate thing is we loose so many artists to the slow grind of life – when they have to decide at some point to put the art aside and get a “real” job – for their own sake, their family’s sake and for peace of mind. The “real” job is easy – trying to be an artist and make a living at it – now there is some “real” work – really hard work. This is just one example.
I’m glad I got a chance to hear a tree fall in the creative forest. And, seeing the works in the Forest and the Sea series – up close was a real treat. I would love to see these works in one of South Carolinas exhibit spaces, but they will most likely be shown in an exhibit space somewhere else – outside of the state.
Rico says to look for his book sometime in Oct. 09 on his website. You can also see the images from the Forest and the Sea series on Rico’s Facebook fan page and for those who don’t Facebook, you can see then on his website’s gallery page where you can see more of his work.
One single painting waiting for its close-up.
Check it out.
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