...there was a Raleigh, Brooklyn, Alabama, Portland, Eugene quadulation thing happening at LumpWest last night. The new Fontanelle Gallery from Portland paid us a visit, and LumpWest was thrilled, as always, when like minds connect. Mr. Crosby and his bodyguards were in attendance as well as a few of the usual suspects. An elegant and odd installation reflecting Mr. Crosby's fascination with the subculture of eco and animal rights activists. Frankly his statement for the show would be hard to improve. LumpWest was thrilled to host the work and looks forward to a long relationship with this Crosby guy.
...a 40 minute video of a lonely, idle elf fending for himself after having ratted out his cohorts in crime....
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...handmade fake matches in gouache and paper, on the front is the logo for the Vail ski resort which was an eco-terrorist site.
Catch / Release / Release Jerstin Crosby LumpWest Project Space, 2493 Harris at the corner of Harris and 25th Ave, Eugene, OR enter off 25th Ave. Opening reception: 7-9pm Friday, March 21, 2008
Jerstin Crosby is a 28 year-old interdisciplinary artist who currently lives and works in Raleigh, North Carolina. Crosby has been an active member of the Lump Gallery-based, Team Lump, since 2004 For LumpWest, Crosby will be presenting, Catch / Release / Release, a multi-media cross-examination of environmental activism, and animal rights extremism. On display will be his drawings of so-called "Eco-terrorists", with masks on, cuddling the animals they have liberated. Crosby writes, "I am struck by the acute juxtaposition between the serene, almost god-like, A.L.F. (animal liberation front) members and the, often, vacant expressions of the animals they embrace." Also, Crosby will show a 40 min. performance video piece called, Fire-Starter (E.L.F.), in which the artist dresses in an elf costume, lights a fire in a pit, and watches and waits as the fire goes out. It plays more as boredom, than as a survival necessity. He made this video as a response to his research of the E.L.F., most notable for their grand arsons of ski resorts and Hummer dealerships. The elf in the video is an outcast, he is possibly the mole that put his friends in jail, or he is lost; he could even be at home. During his stay in Oregon, Jerstin will be planting a large medicinal herb garden in the shape of an anarchy symbol. This mark on the land, is not meant as a symbol of political anarchy, but a warning of chaos from the eco-system. While the location of the garden will not be revealed, documentation from the event will be available at Catch / Release / Release.