December 1st was a long fun night of painting for 24 hours straight alongside fellow art folk, talking with those interested in seeing the process, hearing insomnia-induced voices and getting weird till the morning hours. It ended with the trains being shut down due to flooding and sleeping on a comfy West Oakland BART bench.
Struggle to Both Permeate and Preserve Our Collective Consciousness (Fear of Singularity)
When Roman poet Horace penned his famous phrase, "Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero", he meant it as a call to action, a declaration that tomorrow is unforeseen and that it is today which must be celebrated. Two thousand years later, lOAKal takes the phrase literally with our latest exhibition "Carpe Diem," founded on the belief that if you put a varied group of artists in one room for a 24 hour period, you create an environment for transformation.
Artists Zoltron, Eddie Colla, Filth Grime, Nite Owl, DYoungV, Lisa Pisa, Hugh Leeman, Helen Bayly and Daryll Peirce will be given an 8ft x 8ft panel and a 24 hour window to come together and create their works in unison, effectively turning the gallery into an incubator for their inspiration. Creativity feeds off of creativity and at a certain density the whole becomes greater than the sum of it's parts. Without a tremendous amount of time to deliberate, "Carpe Diem" becomes an experiment in gesture, expression and energy.... capturing lighting in a bottle.
Visitors encouraged to tour the gallery all day on December 1st while the works for “Carpe Diem” are being created. Join us Friday, December 7th from 6-10pm (all ages) for the monthly Oakland Art Murmur, when we will be unveiling these spontaneous and inspired works. Loakal is located at 550 2nd Street near Jack London Square, Oakland (510) 842-3474.
Helen Bayly killing it
Brett Amory, one of his two "waiters" and his arm looking like one of his paintings
Zoltron, Eddie Colla and Lisa Pisa
Dave Young V assuring me there was no one else there
