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Models in Masks: A Persona|Anima Fashion Event on October 14 Monday, October 05, 2009

In a culture increasingly rich in social programming, we wear many hats. We also wear many outfits. Clothes are a particularly useful tool in the construction of identity, whether we’re donning a power suit for an important interview, stepping into a pair of stilettos to amp up our sex appeal, or decking ourselves out in black and safety pins to express some inner angst. Almost all cultures, even those that exist at the subsistence level, use some form of cosmetic embellishment as a social signifier. Clothes are a sign of who we are, what we’re made of, and what we’re all about.

In conjunction with Persona | Anima, 55here will host an event that celebrates clothing as a locus of identity construction. The event, entitled “Models in Masks,” will take place on Wednesday, October 14, from 6 to 8 at the 55here gallery space, and will feature the work of local designers Alison Burke (of Young Monster), Bridget Miller (of LEO Handmade), Kimara Dawn, and Sondra Aten (of Collective Clothing), as worn by masked models who will mingle with the cocktail crowd instead of strutting the catwalk. The event will also feature an open bar, refreshments, and live music from DJ Dust. As an added bonus, it’s free and open to the public, so fashionistas and fashionists, locallectuals, quasi-lushes, and plain old good time-havers from all walks of live are encouraged to attend.

By Katie Waddell, Arts Fellow

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Establishing Shot Video Series, Episode 1: Aaron Cabeen Thursday, October 01, 2009

As a carpenter’s son, Aaron Cabeen received a lifelong education in woodworking. Now a craftsman in his own right, Cabeen has applied a traditional philosophy to his own sustainable approach to design in establishing the prolific custom furniture company Cabeen Originals.

Based in Chattanooga, TN, Cabeen Originals constructs one-of-a-kind furniture pieces from as much reclaimed lumber as possible, ensuring that each structure is not only distinct in form, but also possesses a unique history.

Officially established just two months after completing SpringBoard’s business planning course, Cabeen Originals rapidly grew legs. Within nine months, Cabeen had used his original business plan to procure a woodshop space at the Business Development Center and quickly contracted two jobs with high local visibility, one at the downtown restaurant Deluxe; as well as at the Southside’s Terminal Brewhouse.

Cabeen’s business model is based on a few clear goals. “We believe in something different. Every piece is made with solid wood every time. No fillers, support pieces, or hidden boards are from engineered wood. We believe this makes a better product with more value. ”

“Salvaged and recycled wood has received more attention recently,” says Cabeen. “The benefits of using salvaged wood are character, rich tones, the history of its previous use, and the conversations that it will bring to your home or business surrounding the piece. With stained nail holes or years of weathering, salvaged wood makes a unique piece.”
 
In his marriage of business and artistry, Cabeen proves that reuse is a beautiful thing. Interested in seeing his work for yourself? Cabeen will be debuting a brand new furniture line in his booth at this weekend’s Home Show.

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What is “Here”? Notes from the Field

Josh McManus is one of CreateHere’s co-founders and Creative Strategists. About to embark on a month-long trip abroad through the Marshall Memorial Fellowship, he sent us this dispatch from the road.

Today I find myself in our nation’s capital, doing highly uncharacteristic things. First and foremost, wearing a suit and a name tag that’s not permanently part of my yellow shirt. But I’m also awash in other unfamiliar feelings.

Most notably, I miss home.

This is only further compounded by the fact that this name tag hanging around my neck simply has my name and the combined words “Create” and “Here.” As I meet new people, they tend to study the tag, ponder for an uncomfortable minute and then ask, “Sooo, where is Here?”. I usually only get a moment to find words befitting a place that captivates me. That’s why I wanted to write more here.

Now, Home is an elusive concept in a digital society, and Here is even more esoteric. Let me expound a bit more on what I mean.

First, Home. My home is a topographical “saucer” on the earth where the land and the water intersect with the Southern sky in a way unlike anywhere else I’ve ever been. It’s the first major break in a mountain chain that runs hundreds of miles to the northeast, a geographical touchstone that has directed settlement patterns for thousands of years.

And it is a fertile valley in many senses. Our agrarian past is not so distant and our fields and surrounding foodshed are putting more sustenance on local tables by the day. The spirit of innovation that found roots in primary elements like metal and sugar is today reemerging in areas like clean energy, transportation, sustainable manufacturing, technology, and design.

Perhaps most importantly, it’s a place where people come together to do things that are larger than any one individual.

On the subject of people it should be noted that we, the citizens of Here, are wildly different. Our ages, our backgrounds, our incomes, our educations, even what we individually regard as quality of life. Here is all over the map. Still, there is on constant: an overwhelming sense that our individual pursuit of happiness is advanced by thinking and acting in ways bigger than ourselves.

And before you accuse me of being pollyannaish about Here, let me also say: we’ve come so far, but we have farther to go. Our rising tide has not lifted all boats. Our growth and vehicle patterns have isolated entire areas of our city and groups of people that somehow seem forgotten. These people and places teem with unrealized potential but often stand before barriers to entry that seem insurmountable. This unrealized potential should stand as a call to action to each and every engaged citizen to never declare “mission accomplished.” Community building is a process, not a static goal, far on the horizon.

So, where is Here? Here is home. Here is Chattanooga. Here is the best city in the world, not for any individual attribute but for a spirit that admits, anything is possible when people care equally about themselves as for others. A city rich in history and ripe with potential standing on a precipice. A city spreading it’s ever strengthening wings about to embark on another twenty-five years of incredible change and progress with an eye for the benefit of all and an uncompromising commitment to quality. A city that I love and can’t wait to get home to.

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This Friday: Join Us for A Celebration of Stand Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Today is officially the last day of the survey phase of Stand, which means you’ll never be asked to fill out “four questions for the future” again. This does not, by any means, signify the end of the Stand team’s hard work.

At midnight, Stand will move from this initial phase of information gathering to a planning stage, which will ultimately result in an action era. This transitional planning stage between gathering information to dispersing it will take several months — and it will be highlighted by guest speakers, community roundtables and even an interactive gallery show.

So, on Friday, we’re not celebrating an end, but a beginning. Celebrating our graduation from one phase to the next with a party that looks back at how we, as a community, got here.

On Friday, October 2, get suited up in all of your Stand garb and help us ring in the next incarnation of Stand. Join us at StandHQ/CreateHere from 5 - 8 pm for authentic Southern food from Cafe LeMont, beer from Big River Grille, and a multimedia tribute to the historic achievement we’ve already accomplished in the last five months.

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MakeWork Recipient Launches Yearlong Music Production Project

The “Song a week by Charles Allison” project is a musical exercise/weekly song diary by multi-instrumentalist and 2009 MakeWork grant recipient Charles Allison. A man not without ambition, Charles has mapped out his most recent project: writing, recording and chronicling a new song every week for a year. This project regularly features collaborators and includes video that accompanies the posted audio track. A new song posts every Friday that was written and recorded during the previous week, and most songs are generally written and recorded within an hour. The curveball is that there are no definitive rules about production, lyrics are mostly extemporaneous and generally recorded in one pass, and songs are recorded in a variety of locations and circumstances, including Charles’s own Spanner Studio.

“I’ve planned and executed three large-scale expeditions (Sea-kayaking the coast of Baja, riding the length of Queensland, Australia, as well as San Diego to Saint Augustine, Florida on my bicycle) and I’m thinking of this as the same sort of endeavor. There is a terminus, which is a year. And there is a cycle, which is a new song once a week with a short story about how we made the song.”

Allison has been developing an audio engineering and songwriting firm in Spanner Studios for over twelve years, and his MakeWork grant has moved him towards creating a marketable identity in this field by helping facilitate this project. When coupled with the discipline and work ethic necessary to become successful in such an endeavor, the future is bright for this entrepreneur.

There have been others, however, who have preceded Charles in the field of regimented song writing/song diaries. From Mozart to Paleo, any good musician knows that good songwriting is not simply an instinctual ability that is bestowed upon an annointed chosen one. Songwriting, like any other skill, is hard work. It is a muscle to be exercised regularly, and Allison understands this. He knows that even though every song won’t be top 40 material, the results of disciplined writing and recording every week will manifest itself in the long-term trajectory of his business. There is also an element of transparency and vulnerability in this project. Creating is an assailable activity, and to do so publicly every week for a year is an admirable undertaking.

“I’ve become way too precious about song production, and this is an exercise, as well as an exorcism.”

Follow Charles on Twitter, and make sure and keep up with his weekly songsmithing. He is currently working on week 3 of 52, and he would love your feedback.

By Michael Kendall, Editorial

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