First Friday: November 2023 - Autumn Updates
Inspiration & Updates from Brian Madden Studio
“In which areas of life are you still holding back until you feel like you know what you’re doing?”
― Oliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
Thanks to everyone who stopped by for Artspan SF Open Studios this weekend! We’re excited to do it all over again November 18 & 19, and kick back for our holiday party December 16th. You’re all invited.
This week I’m back in Portland to participate in DECOM 2, a workshop hosted by ECCO Leather, a subsidiary of the Dutch footwear brand, who are innovating to influence the future of leather, heavily investing in water purification, sustainable processes and treatments, and recycling/upcycling techniques.
While I spent a few weeks studying fashion in Milan and have done a couple of small brand collaborations, I wouldn’t say that I know what I’m doing in this field. It’s more likely that I’m here because I can never stick to one lane, and someone thought that would be helpful in an innovation workshop!
Saying yes to side quests like this one can be generative and inspiring, especially when I don’t know where they’ll lead. So I felt a sense of synchronicity this week while creating my Halloween costume back in SF.
Without a deep knowledge of fashion, there was no pressure to know all the answers, and no need to hold back until I did. I was free to create, and more prepared to dive in head first at the workshop. Next month I’ll share the results of the event.
In the meantime, read on for more about my Halloween inspiration, studio updates, and a special announcement that comes but once a year. I’ll share:
WHAT I’M SHOWING: SF Open Studios & 2023 Holiday Party
WHAT I’M READING: Four Thousand Weeks
WHAT I’M MAKING: My Favaretto Halloween Costume
WHAT I’M HEARING: Autumnal Audio
You’re receiving First Friday because you’ve supported my artwork, visited my studio, or otherwise signed up to stay in touch. Thanks for being a part of this story!
WHAT I’M SHOWING: SF Open Studios & 2023 Holiday Party
Weekend 1 of Artspan SF Open Studios is in the books! Thanks to everyone who stopped by my studio, I loved hosting and it felt good to connect with the broader SF art scene in a new way. We set up the dining table in my studio with plenty of art supplies for guests to create and share, and look forward to keeping that energy going through the festival!
If you missed Weekend 1, I’ll also be hosting another open studio during Weekend 4, November 18 and 19, from 11am to 5pm both days. You can find my studio at 2415 3rd Street, Suite 263. And listing #405 in the SFOS Guide if you’re planning to make a day of it.
And speaking of planning… it’s that time of year again! Please join me for our 3rd annual studio holiday party! We’ll have music & activities, drinks & snacks, and back by popular demand— my partner Jen’s legendary cookie swap!
If you’d like to create something for the cookie swap, please bring a couple dozen or so, and we’ll have bags so everyone can take some home!
Dress code is casual, but it’s the holidays, so feel free to have some fun, express yourself, and if you love dressing up, go for it! And of course, tacky sweaters are always welcome.
RSVP here and bring your friends and family!
WHAT I’M MAKING: My Favaretto Halloween Costume
Speaking of the holidays, making my Halloween costume this past week was the perfect chance to get my mind ready for the Ecco Leather workshop, because it was an exercise in rapid prototyping, design development, material sourcing, and production.
This year I created a blend of my personal inspiration from daily life and from the work of an artist I look up to. My goal was to make a shirt like a spinning brush from a drive-through car wash, while honoring the colorful spinning sculptures of Lara Favaretto.
Whenever I drive through the car wash, I’m mesmerized by the vinyl spinning flaps, and love how Favaretto created colorful spinning string sculptures that scratch that inspirational itch for the art student in me.
A black long sleeve tee became the base for the costume, and after a fruitless attempt at recreating the heavy vinyl strips used in actual car washes, I pivoted toward Favaretto’s fabric materiality. But instead of the thin string notable in her work, I found a middle ground that evoked the flat bristles of the car wash brushes: a roll of beautiful coral-colored ¾” woven herringbone fabric strip. I did a quick sketch to determine how much I’d need, and ultimately bought 120 feet, cutting it into eighty 1.5” strips to assemble into the wearable art.
Despite the large quantity I was cutting, the staff at the fabric store let me step behind the counter to cut each piece onsite, and some duck tape helped me lock down each individual piece in an alternating fringe pattern. I was stoked to be able to connect some inspirational dots for my costume this year. And if you know me, you know I love to dance, so it was a blast taking it out for a spin.
WHAT I’M READING: Four Thousand Weeks
Last month, I was walking through the iconic Milwaukee Art Museum during a short trip to Wisconsin. The friends who were hosting us began describing a book they’d just read, Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman, which offers stories and methods meant to help truly experience the short life we’ve got.
And while I was fascinated by the premise, I knew I had to read the book when they dropped this gem:
“Life is not a dress rehearsal.”
The message was thought provoking and timely, because recently I’ve been moving into uncharted territory with my practice, pursuing opportunities that feel like preparation for sometime bigger, even though I know my background has led to each moment. Sometimes I feel an apprehension that I don’t have all the answers, or haven’t yet earned the chance to participate. But I’m learning that there’s no need to put off these opportunities until some unknown future date, because the moment is right when the inspiration is warm and there’s an appetite to create!
So with that in mind, I enjoyed the blend of information and interactivity within the book, and the Burkeman’s question I began this newsletter with felt particularly apropos:
“In which areas of life are you still holding back until you feel like you know what you’re doing?”
Each of my projects and partnerships seems to present an opportunity to learn something new or to try something I’ve never done. And as a non-traditional artist, I can’t let a prior lack of knowledge stop me from moving forward, because when it all boils down, the knowledge comes from the doing.
As our visit to the museum came to a close, we happened upon the work of an artist I admire, Olafur Elliason. I felt an internal surge of inspiration to keep making the most of my Four Thousand Weeks.
WHAT I’M HEARING: My favorite season
Fall is my favorite season, and I find joy in the cozy moments that the crisp, transitional weather brings. Sometimes I feel a melancholy that wants the music to match, so this month we’re keeping it mellow and hygge.
The First Friday Playlist can only come from songs I’ve heard, received, discovered, (or rediscovered) out in the world. Songs overheard at (coffee) shops, festivals, galleries, and received from friends IRL and online.
I will be playing tracks from all the First Friday playlists in my Dogpatch studio during my next San Francisco Open Studios this fall, Nov 18-19. 11a-5p, 2415 3rd Street, Suite 263. I would love to see you there.
In the meantime, thanks for reading!
Yours,
Brian
brian@brianbmadden.com
