collisionwork | Parties

Great Halloween party at the home of Matt & Dina Gray on Friday night.

The theme(s) was/were "Come as a Corporate Logo/Mascot" or "Fine Art, that is, come as Jackson Pollock or come as a Jackson Pollock."

Berit and I went the latter route - she taking on Picasso's Girl Before a Mirror, and I, as mentioned here before, not thinking then that I'd actually go this route, got a dusky red sweater and black pants and went as Mark Rothko's No. 14, with identifying card, as you'd see next to the work in a museum -- which became the joke, as people would look at me and ask, "What are you?" and I'd hand them the card or hold it next to me - which was better for the joke but spoiled the image a bit - and stand very still. I was surprised how many people actually got this and laughed (or, well, groaned appreciatively), but considering some of the artwork on display, maybe I shouldn't have.

I took quite a few photos, but because of the party lighting - not only low, but VERY red-tinted - my camera, which usually works well in low light, got poor results. It was better with flash, but of course those don't look too great.

So, behind the cut - because these are probably only of interest to friends of those of us there who aren't on Facebook and seeing all the shots of that night posted by many of us who were there - are a few of the better shots from the evening . . .

The hosts - Dina and Matt Gray - split on the themes themselves, with Dina taking on The Jolly Green Giant and Matt as Magritte's The Son of Man:

After the first few shots, I moved onto using the flash, which didn't give me great shots, but created some very strange effects at times, in combo with the hazy red lighting . . .

I'm not sure Dina had the character of the Jolly Green Giant down, but she was pretty fetching in the getup . . . ho-ho-ho . . .

Mateo Moreno came as Jared from the Subway ads and Becky Byers as the Chicken of the Sea chick - here adding to the multitude of shots I've been seeing on Facebook of the two of them with these approximate facial expressions:

They were soon joined by Capt. James T. Kirk (Gavin Starr Kendall), who beamed in with no cares as to the party's themes and went for the mini-Snickers bars. Boy, the flash gives some serious red-eye, huh?

Gyda Arber, there in her costume from Lord Oxford, which could easily pull double-duty as the St. Pauli Girl, wanted a photo of "The Two Norwegian Girls," so here she is with Berit, the Girl Before a Mirror (showing off her identifying card):

Berit took about 8 photos of me, and none of them were good (or anything I wanted to share - either blurry, hazy, or even less-flattering), but here's the least-lousy of them, with me as No. 14 - I probably look unhappy because it's still pretty early in the evening and, as I'm driving, I can't drink any more of the fine punch or spiked hot spiced cider, which is really depressing me . . .

Berit by the kitchen, with some of that very nice punch, providing an odd alternate view of her Picasso face:

I didn't stay long enough to find out who won the costume contests, but for me the winner in the "Fine Art" division had to be Aaron Baker as Francis Bacon's Head Surrounded By Sides of Beef, here seen threatening the Jolly Green Giant. The back of Roy Lichtenstein's Girl with Ball (Rita Menweep) can be seen at right (and I'm REALLY embarrassed I didn't get who she was until the next day, when Aaron mentioned it - she had DOTS on her face for chrisssakes!):

The odd groupings you get at a party like this . . . here the Bacon painting chats with his ladyfriend the St. Pauli Girl, while in the background James T. Kirk macks on Hannah Montana (Samantha Mason):

And of course, no party of artworks today would be complete without "The Flower Chucker" (Scot Marshall) by Banksy - to the apparent consternation of the cheese-eating Bacon painting at right . . .

Bored with not-drinking, I got Berit and left and we missed a whole bunch of friends who showed up soon after (should have stayed, dammit), but we got one last photo at home before Berit took the makeup off, before our own bathroom mirror . . .

Today I go see a show for the NYIT Awards. Glad I realized about daylight savings time or I'd have been there WAY early and in a foul mood. Saw the final performance of The Master of Horror last night and then Bride of Sinister Six at The Brick. Busy.

Tuesday night is the Election Night Special performance of Lord Oxford at The Brick, followed by watching the Election results there - we're figuring out how to stream the video to the big big screen. I'll probably drag in my old TVs as well, hook them to antennas and switch channels around, then maybe point a video camera at them and broadcast that on the screen as well.

I've been wanting to do the whole night with us on the Brick staff as the "Brick Action News Team," as if we're covering the Election ourselves, live video camera and microphones, delivering insane, non-sequitur commentary on what we're seeing, but I don't think that'll happen, as much fun as Berit and I have been having with the idea:

IAN: (loud, cheerful) This is Ian W. Hill, media supervisor of the Brick Action News Team, live from the bar area at the rear of the theater, throwing you now to Berit Johnson in our state-of-the-art Brick SuperMedia SkyBooth. Berit, can you hear me?
BERIT: (flat, joyless) Yes, Ian, of course I can hear you.
IAN: That's incredible, Berit, you're coming through with amazing clarity!
BERIT: Ian, I'm four feet above you.
IAN: Well, that's great, Berit! Boy, that new Brick SuperMedia SkyBooth is really something, huh?
BERIT: It's the tech booth, and I'm right over you, you don't have to shout.
IAN: Well, that's terrific! Say, isn't it great seeing our Democracy in action?
BERIT: I'm a Socialist, Ian, you know that. This is all a Capitalist farce between two barely-differing segments of the Money Party that rules the State.
IAN: Hey, great, it takes all kinds to make up our fine country!
BERIT: I'm cutting your damn microphone, Ian.