Please visit us at the 7444 Gallery in Saranac Lake, NY and Alexander Michael of Sydney, Australia (aka SILOBOY) for:Applied Design | A Two Part PresencePART 1 - at the 7444 GalleryArtist at work studio tour: September 23rd thru 25thDaily from 10a thru 4pPART 2 - at the Lewis Missle SiloOpening reception at the Missle Silo in Lewis, NYSaturday, October 1st from 3p 'til late
APPLIED DESIGNfinding self in materialworks by Alexander MichaelJoin Alex and the 7444 Gallery for a week of integrated exposure to the work and style of Alexander Michael. Alex will be in residence at the 7444 Gallery for the weekend of the Artist at Work Studio Tour, continuing his work in composite material design and sculpture. These sculptures and others will then travel to Lewis NY, on the grounds of his renovated Atlas Missle Silo for display and installation. Tours of the silo will also be available.A statement from the artist:
“Truculent, irritable and aloof”, were the words from my Grade Three councillor. Well I certainly proved her right, and that set the tone for life thereafter. “Unwilling to be part of the group”, she continued, “and has a propensity for destruction.” Yes, not a truer word spoken and, I knew it at the time, but the problem was, I couldn’t see why it was a problem. It all came to a head when I was exiled to the headmaster’s “special room” after painting Lava-Lamp blobs all over the school’s dreary cement walls.
Prophetic or not, it turned out that I did like to work alone, whether sculpting or designing buildings, and as for a “propensity for destruction,” I preferred to call it Deconstruction. What was also clear from very early on; I was hopeless with my hands, which is why I became a designer, not a maker. However, after thirty years in the practice, I still yearned for a more personal expression of creativity without everyone insisting on what I can and can’t do. I wanted to be responsible for something I alone could create! But therein lies another problem: being one hundred percent responsible for anything also carries a burden, one that I hadn’t anticipated. I quickly discovered there was no one left to blame, not a client, or a builder, or even a nosy neighbour; it just might be all my fault.
Still hopeless with my hands, I eventually found the materials and techniques that were forgiving enough to tolerate my ineptitude and yet expressive enough to represent whatever vision might erupt from my truculent, irritable and aloof neocortex.
This work is the result of all that freedom, and the fear. There is also a self-evident and deeply religious aspect to this work, and I am nervous to talk about it, mostly because I’m afraid some nutcase might clock me on the head. My phobias for both religion and the religious are not extreme, at least not in a pathologically Nietzchean way, but they do exert influence on my views and my relationship with the world around me. I’ve tried to find an “ism” for it, but without any luck, so I left it to my troublesome hands and the right side of the brain to sort it out.
“The Sydney-based InteriorDesigner might be an inveterate giggler,but he’s a smart cookie, has a side-line inscience-fiction writing and a talent forsculpture.” (Vogue, 2005)Directions to the Missle Silo:(Please check your travelpath prior to departure in case of road closures)87 Hale Hill Lane, Lewis, N.Y.From Plattsburgh:Take the ramp onto I-87 S 20 milesTake the exit toward US-9 STake the 1st right onto US-9 S 8 MilesTurn right onto Hale Hill RdUp the Hill about a half mile on the Left ... Look for Signs.Park alongside access road if parking is full.From Albany:Take the ramp onto I-87 N 120 milesTake the exit StowersvilleTurn Left on Stowersville 2 MilesTurn right onto US-9 N 4 MilesTurn left onto Hale Hill RdUp the Hill about a half mile on the Left ... Look for Signs.Park alongside access road if parking is full.From Saranac Lake:Take NYS 86 East to Lake PlacidTake NYS 73 East to Keene/Keene ValleyTake NYS 9N to ElizabthtownTake NYS 9 North to Hill Hale Road (9.4 miles)Turn left onto Hale Hill RdUp the Hill about a half mile on the Left ... Look for Signs.Park alongside road/access road if parking is full.
