Christian Nielsen’s paintings exist in the optic pleasure zone between literal and abstract expression. Their imperfectly repeating patterns and three-dimensional colors are familiar, yet alien. In intimate, 12 x 12 inch LP size works to 40 x 40 inch portrait-size paintings, Nielsen achieves near-photographic detail from the tightly controlled squeegees he uses to lay down … Read more
I’ve been living in the same city for a long time. Maybe that’s why I crave the unusual. I abhor cookie-cutter architecture, which is just as prevalent in urban areas as in cul-de-sac suburbia. How many three-story brick condos with railed terraces have you seen constructed in recent years? I want buildings that curve, use … Read more
At a pipe ceremony, I once teased an elder about his unorthodox way of conducting invocations. The joke (I always find myself needing to explain my humor) was that I was undermining his authority at all. I don’t even have a pipe, let alone any kind of expertise about this ceremony. He picked up on … Read more
A couple of blocks off Main Street, an eager crowd waits in front of a turn-of-the-century farmhouse. As the clock approaches the top of the hour more visitors steadily appear, gathering near the door of the residence. Soon the door is opened and the crowd enters, warmly greeted by their hosts. Within the space the … Read more
What she didn’t understand, Miriam thought, what she really didn’t understand was this stupid cherry on a spoon. The huge sculpture sat there in its lake, its bright red cherry poised happily on the grey spoon-bowl’s ridge, a symbol of Minneapolis. What about it excited people? What, exactly, was the point? She sat on the … Read more
He couldn’t help glancing at her legs. It wasn’t just that they were long and slender and perfectly tapered, or that she had swung one over the other and now tapped the air with a sling-back stiletto, or that they were smooth and tanned and flawless, but that they were bare. Like so many young … Read more
Once upon a time there was a young girl who wandered in search of a very specific story. She looked in bookstores and couldn’t find it. She walked through library stacks but never found it. Finally, she went to the storyteller himself. He was sitting in a park, waiting for her. He seemed eager to … Read more
A smattering of bonjours and soft smiles accompanied the light, nervous energy that breezed through the Alliance Française this particular Monday morning. Huge croissants and berries lay untouched on the table as hosts and hostesses pinned tricolored nametags to their jackets and blouses. A few people wandered absently around the meeting room, grazing past the … Read more
The screen is black. A mass of ambient sounds emerges to pull the viewer into an immediate state of hypnosis. Crickets and a plethora of other insects are making their voices heard. Cattle and roosters join in, birds chirping, all while the camera slowly spins around with the grace of a Hitchcock film. At first … Read more
Local filmmaker Jon Springer’s new film The Hagstone Demon will be shown as a free sneak preview Thursday, May 8, at the Riverview Theater. The film stars Mark Borchardt, the subject of the Sundance award-winning documentary American Movie, which made him a cult celebrity of the indie film set. This locally produced film — presented … Read more