Voodooartist

gas station cozy!

Posted on August 12th, 2008 by voodooartist.
Categories: Voodooartist.

well, somebody beat me to it! here i am R&Ding (testing) small, temporary, autonomous, cheap, easy crazy garbage fabric quilted nutsy tents / fort / buildings and someone’s outdone me by making a huge-ass “tea cozy”. still, my project is a bit different. look for a prototype rolling out in the black rock desert at burning man this summer.

reposted From Make:Blog

Artist Jennifer Marsh covered this 50-year-old former Citgo station with a giant blanket. Jennifer was sick of paying high gas prices and bothered by the abandoned gas station that was an eyesore on the drive to her studio each day, so she decided to do something about it. With the help of professional and amateur artists from 15 countries and more than 2,500 grade-school students in 29 states, Marsh covered the 50-year-old former Citgo station — pumps, light stands, signs and all — with more than 3,000 fiber panels that are crocheted, knitted, quilted or stitched together.

(more…)

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crazy about shirts

Posted on July 29th, 2008 by voodooartist.
Categories: Voodooartist, Photos, clothing.

Outside American Apparel

photo by Mark the Cobrasnake

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Workshop Photos

Posted on July 22nd, 2008 by voodooartist.
Categories: Voodooartist.

Hey all,
Below, please find some photos from my workshop at the Riverside Metropolitan Museum, where we made a Garbage Quilt, and from my printmaking with Jeff Soto in the Monothon at the Riverside Art Museum. All done in one week!

The pieces of the quilt before they get sewn together.

A combo: three shirts with the same image that i stitched, duct-taped and basted together.

Printer Charlie Ciali pulling one of my monotypes off the press.

Inking up with Jeff Soto. Creating monotypes for the Monothon.

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jewishnoise.com goes live

Posted on July 14th, 2008 by voodooartist.
Categories: Voodooartist.

Hey,

My Jewish Noise CDR record label is now live and on the web HERE.

From the new site…
“Jewish Noise is a small, DIY noise label.

Jewish Noise is an independent record label organized by Lee Tusman, an experimental artist and noisemaker currently based out of Inland Southern California. Jewish Noise was created to support the sharing of experimental, improvised, found sound, freejazz, drone and other noisy music outside of the boundaries of traditionally-structured western music. Despite the name, not all of the artists are jewish, and the music generally does not reference religion in any way.

All releases on Jewish Noise are handmade limited editions, with handprinted covers, packaging and inserts that are works of art in their own right. Additionally, all releases are available free on the internet on the Jewish Noise Netlabel on archive.org.”

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article and video in press enterprise

Posted on July 12th, 2008 by voodooartist.
Categories: Voodooartist.

Peep the video here and check out my unkempt mug.

By PAT O’BRIEN
The Press-Enterprise
Don’t call it a “quilt.”

What Lee Tusman makes may resemble quilting but isn’t, he insists. There are no traditional stitches and patterns or fluffy fillings to keep someone warm on a winter’s night.

“I’ve moved away from the word ‘quilt,’ because it evokes an old lady and traditional techniques and that’s not what I do,” Tusman, 26, said. “I’m interested in how to make something look cool.”

On the other hand, he will lead “Piecing a Community Quilt” at the Riverside Metropolitan Museum on Sunday. Tusman is a bit uncomfortable with the name of the free event, which will include a couple of more traditional quilt artists, Kiandra Jimenez, whose work is displayed in “Quilt Stories” at the museum, and Brenda Focht, the museum’s curator of collections and a textile specialist.

“Lee uses untraditional materials and methods,” said Danielle Leland, the museum’s associate curator of education. “It really gives people an opportunity to see that quilting doesn’t have to be done one way. It allows people to see another way without the intimidation associated with quilting.”

Jimenez and Focht will be available for those interested in traditional stitching, while Tusman will show people how to break rules and make avant-garde art.

“They have the opportunity to do what they like or learn what they like,” Leland said.

Tusman will bring old T-shirts with interesting slogans and unusual fabrics from discount bins and encourages people to bring anything they’ve got, even if it’s stained, burned and holey. There will be Velcro, duct tape and safety pins, as well as needle-and-thread used in creating the artwork.

Tusman, who also records music, likes to say he “remixes” clothing.

Leland said that a piece will be created to be displayed in the museum, but people can also make individual works to take home.

Tusman moved to Riverside from Philadelphia about three years ago to take a job with the city’s cultural consortium. Last year, he became the adult education curator for the Riverside Art Museum.

He doesn’t own a car and arrived on his bicycle for an interview at his studio near the railroad tracks in an industrial part of downtown.

Inside the studio, shared with two other artists, are piles of old T-shirts and other swaths of fabric. He estimates he’s got about 70 shirts in his apartment and probably more than that at the studio.

“I collect shirts,” he said. “I’ve always liked shirts. I had all these in the closet that were worn out or not my size anymore. I needed to do something with them.”

So he started cutting them up and putting them into quilt-like hangings. What makes them different is they aren’t carefully stitched in traditional patterns.

“I use the backs of fabric. I leave the thread hanging out,” he said. “I use fabric other people wouldn’t.”

He likes it to look rough, ragged.

And he doesn’t intend for them to be blankets.

“Although, when I lived in New Orleans when I was first out of school, I did sleep under one of my quilts then,” he said. “I generally don’t put a back on it. It’s not for putting on a bed. They are for putting on your wall, for looking at.”

His fabric art has been shown at Art Basel Miami Beach, David Krut Projects New York and the Klingspor-Museum Offenbach in Germany.

“The reason I do this instead of collage or painting is the texture of fabric. It feels good,” he said. “I’m heavily influenced by 20th-century modern art, but obviously I have that pop element. My work is gridded out. There are grids, patterns and abstractions in it.”

Also a photographer, his photographs have been exhibited at Division 9 Gallery in Riverside, including a project with two other artists currently on display.

“Piecing a Community Quilt” will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Riverside Metropolitan Museum, 3580 Mission Inn Ave. Riverside. Admission is free; 951-826-5273.

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Upcoming workshop July 13 at Riverside Metropolitan Museum

Posted on July 4th, 2008 by voodooartist.
Categories: Voodooartist, events, exhibition, Photos.

I am leading a workshop at the Riverside Metropolitan Museum on Sunday July 13 from 1 - 4. I’ll have my huge juki industrial sewing machine there and will lead people in creating a giant garbage quilt from cast off junk. we’ll sew, duct tape, glue, snap together, etc some cool stuff. This will be a lot of fun. If you live in my neck of the woods, you should come. This is in conjunction with their large Quilt History exhibit that features some Gee’s Bend quilts and a variety of others.

Here’s a photo of a work in progress with friend and fellow artist Dan Lichtman on a quilt with sound art installation elements.

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Review of Skullphone History Museum in LATimes

Posted on July 4th, 2008 by voodooartist.
Categories: Voodooartist, exhibition, Photos, Curated.

Here is an LA Times review of Skullphone History Museum @ RAM that i curated.

photo by Karen Tapia-Andersen / Los Angeles Times
article by Camilo Smith

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Detritus Collidus exhibit at Division 9 Gallery

Posted on July 2nd, 2008 by voodooartist.
Categories: Voodooartist, music, events, exhibition, Photos.

1. I have an opening at Division 9 Gallery in Southern California on Thursday evening July 3rd, 6 - 9PM. This is a show of works in progress. It is a 3-person show.
-Lee Tusman

-Melissa McCluskey

Each of us is showing sculpture and photography morphed together (and that are works in progress) that will be completed and photographed and filmed (!) for a video art piece screening at the California Museum of Photography in August for the group show Truthiness. I have combined diy photocopied urban architectural shots and hung them together with some of my fabric work and other textile/paper pieces.

“Truthiness: Photography in Sculpture.”
July 26, 2008 - October 04, 2008 at the California Museum of Photography
Opening Reception: July 26, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

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1st album - Fuck Sunshine / Legalize Crime

Posted on June 27th, 2008 by voodooartist.
Categories: Voodooartist, music, Photos.

I am proud to announce the release of Legalize Crime on Jewish Noise records, my new CDR record label.

The CD is released in an edition of 50. To get a copy, please contact me. Available for serious trades only. Not for sale. The album will be available for download soon for free / open source.

The CDR was thermal printed and duplicated by Furnace Mfg. The sleeves were solarplate relief printed using soy ink by hand myself on Sustainable Group recycled Re-Sleeves. The back was stamped with a custom new “Jewish Noise” logo stamp pad. Each album is numbered in the edition. Due to the nature of hand printing, each album has a slightly different look.

Thanks to the following: Tim Bieniosek for equipment and technical feedback, Micah Carlson for art assistance, Jeff Ribaudo for printing assistance, Mary Anne Arntzen for production assistance, Jason Bachman for technical advice.

Click through to get the full undistorted pictures.

The studio:

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The Big Sad gets featured on Current TV

Posted on June 16th, 2008 by voodooartist.
Categories: Voodooartist, exhibition, video, Curated.

Current TV did a great interview and documentary on The Big Sad.
Featuring interviews with Barry McGee, footage of Clare Rojas, interviews with Ed Templeton, Dan Nguyen, Jon Roach, Director Daniel Foster, and me, Curator Lee Tusman.

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