We Are Rolling for Real…

The shakeout cruise of the “Moving Thought” bookmobile trailer has shook. Many of the ‘everythings that could possibly go wrong’ did, and we came through it -- we made the gig and did the show in every instance, all across Tampa Bay and beyond – in Sarasota, downtown Tampa Saturday night, and Safety Harbor. Through non-delivering suppliers, long hot drives on gusty roadways, indifferent passing crowds, drunken hordes, catastrophic loss of power, and extended flooding rain leading to near-submersion of the Airstream, the project was accomplished. Nothing after this will be difficult. This first weekend was sure to be the worst, and the worst now is done.

Of course that was only logistics, the behind-the-scenes struggles which are always swiftly forgotten. “Moving Thought” in Sarasota, Tampa and Safety Harbor was interesting and stimulating. You can see some pictures below… Drop in again for accounts of these experiences… And try and catch "Moving Thought" at an upcoming venue (listed below below).

All Power to the Imagination! New College Sarasota

     

     

Pictures from the bookmaking workshop to come!

Friday Night Kickoff -- "We Are On Our Way!"

Friday night, March 28th, Moving Thought was ready for the public (sans interior/exterior lighting – but we fixed that after a bit of improvisation). I was there at 7:30pm with April and Kim for the first shift and I brought with me the inventory list of all the books that were now so carefully placed around the vintage Airstream. The bulk of these are from Printed Matter, as well as books from the Contemporary Art Museum and from Barnes & Noble. Friday night was USF’s annual Arthouse, so there were lots of people buzzing around from the CAM student awards show. I can report that the honor of first “official” visitors to Moving Thought went to a couple of middle-aged guys who were very enthusiastic about everything. They were mostly drawn to the book “Your Logo Here” a photo essay by Deanna Templeton about SoCal teens who get their bodies painted with various company logos as they skate bikini-clad through places like Venice Beach (I lived in VB but don’t remember seeing this phenomenon, so it must be pretty new). This led them into a conversation amongst themselves about various arts communities they knew of in California. Perhaps the two guys were interested in the book because the front displayed an attractive photo of one such bikini-clad Californian, but at least they were engaged and complimentary. I couldn’t help but notice that they used one artist book/magazine as a bit of a beer coaster, but it did have a picture of a corona on the cover. After they left, more visitors seemed to roll in and were eager to hear more about the project. Thanks to everyone for their hard work on Moving Thought thus far! -- M Slaughter
...that trailer really is shiny and i want one. i even saw a fancy guy in a suit . if you get a chance you have to come out and find us on our "world" tour.
-- shane hoffman

Arthouse/Moving Thought Testimonial

It has been a long day of editing, writing, mailing and other non-art related functions. Thankfully, a friend invited me to USF's annual Art House; an event where all the students open the classrooms and studios and show their art works. I was quite tired, but I did promise my friend that I would enjoy myself.
The festivities from CAM carried my eye beyond the perfectly manicured party foods to another impeccably green lawn nearby from which grew out what seemed to be a 20 foot head of Lincoln. Alas! An aged call from the political arena. I ventured out there to find that is was surrounded by shiny, lit up robots and more cardboard sculptures that had nothing to do with what one might expect of any sort of partisan party. Although there were mini-fireworks present in some ode to something.
I did tell my friend that I was going to enjoy myself that evening and I found entertainment in the green field of cardboard scarecrows. Since I was to enjoy myself, I was in luck to spot a silver air stream with party lights, lawn chairs set out in front of it and a table with many (still vertical) bottles dotting the silver trailer landscape. It seemed like the perfect place to explore after the CAM ceremony. My legs were tired and the chairs looked welcoming. Among the lawn furniture and people occupying them I saw what looked like a book shelf. When I peered into the trailer, there were more shelves with books and magazines inside. It was a curious assemblage of writings. I promised my friend that I would enjoy myself and it seemed like I just would. I picked up a couple of books and one zine from the collection and headed to one of the still empty chairs. Since I did not recognize any of the chatter around me, it was easy to focus on the writings at hand. I found the art zine to be of particular interest as it was geared towards more serious issues, but illustrated in a comic-book, lighthearted manner. To my surprise, I did not notice that nearly an hour went by and I was still sitting in the same spot with the same beer at my side. As cynical as I might have been about the surrounding events, this, what I found out was called the Book or the Thought Mobile, was actually one of my more enjoyable pieces of Art House. I must admit, I quite enjoyed myself." -Anonymous Testimonial

Selling...

Heading down I-275 on a Saturday morning, we crossed the Howard Frankland bridge towards Pinellas County, hauling the Airstream trailer behind. A couple gallons later, we arrived at downtown St. Petersburg, to peddle our artists’ books as outsiders during the annual Triathlon at the Vinoy Park, a venue sure to bring people traffic. Since many at the event would be obviously preoccupied with athletic things, we focused on the spectators. My first encounter was with a little woman named Clarice. She was there to watch her grandson. Clarice said she never went to museums, but she collected figurines and her walls weren’t covered with any art, but with photos of her 13 children and their children. She liked to line them up in staggered grids of 13 by 13. After she browsed a while, I showed her Judy Gelles’ Florida Family Portraits, a book containing portraits and photos of the author’s family taken every year for 20 years.
Ah,” she said, “I wish I was able to do that.”
I asked her what she meant.
“I wish I was able to get everybody together, long enough to capture it. I’m stuck getting individual photos sent to me in cards and I have to line them up next to each other. I hate all those spaces between.”
After minutes of looking, she came back to it and bought it.
I sold about 12 different books that day. I enjoyed being repeatedly surprised by seeing who lingered over what and which books were more saleable than I first expected.
-- time traveling Moving Thought bookmobile participant

Anticipation...

I have never experienced such a thrill as the Moving Thought Book Mobile! Touring around the city of Tampa in the 31' Airstream trailer brought me back to the days of my childhood, camping and touring, not to mention a nostalgia for those elementary school days as I and all the other 3rd graders anxiously awaited the arrival of the book mobile. Seeing the sea of people proudly create their very own artist’s book was well worth the long, hot, late spring days of Florida. Bringing art culture to an
audience who would otherwise never be exposed to it was a privilege that not many are able to say they have had. -- time traveling "Moving Thought" project participant.
* Arthouse opening, USF, School of Fine Art & Art History, Friday March 28
Saturday March 29th -- [no venue]
Sunday March 30th -- [no venue]
* Friday April 4th - "All Power to the Imagination" conference, New College, Sarasota,
* Saturday, April 5th - Flight 19 artists' space during the "Loud Art" exhibition (bookmaking workshop: "100 Books for 100 People," ongoing)
* Sunday April 6th - Safety Harbor Public Library
* Friday April 11th -- ["Neighborhood Watch" screening series in Seminole Heights]
* Saturday April 12th -- ["Neighborhood Watch" screening series in Seminole Heights] Sunday April 13th -- [no venue]
* Hillsborough Community College for the Ybor Festival of the Moving Image: Friday, April 18 and Saturday, April 19th -- [no venue; Flight 19? visiting speaker from Mobilivre project]
* Sunday, April 20th -- Hillsborough Community College for the Ybor Festival of the Moving Image (cyanotype workshop)
* April 25th - "Laminate Your Scrapbook!" - "Mobile Thought" trailer installed at CAM, opens 7-9pm

A mobile artists’ bookstore and experimental laboratory...

…rolling through Tampa Bay like a stormcloud in April. Like Billy Pilgrim, we imagine that we have done this all before. We need only to recollect this great creative adventure. What happened? What do we remember? It was a brilliant sunny weekend day, shining on the parking lot at Publix as the “Moving Thought” vehicle pulled up. A mob of screaming kids rushed inside, nearly filling the Airstream with a squirming, squealing tangle of excited humanity. They were there from the Seminole Heights community arts workshop, come to make books. When the kids realized the workshop was outside, the trailer emptied as quickly as it had filled. Adults, their parents, stood by shaking their heads and smiling. With this energized crowd, “100 Books for 100 People” – our announced goal, looked as if it might be achieved this very afternoon.
P.S. A great site, another "trip" is -- Les Sentiers de l’Utopie | Paths Through Utopia A 7 month journey through Europe in search of Utopian ways of living http://www.utopias.eu/paths/