For Halloween this year I gave my assistants each a $100 cash gift- with a caveat, they would have to spend the money only on Milwaukee Ave. between the gallery and Crater liquor store. They both volunteer for me and I have always felt somewhat guilty for this exchange of time and labor (for job experience) without a transaction of cash. They are two of my favorite assistants ever and I am happy to count them as friends beyond our professional relationships, so giving them this bonus felt right. The gesture could also be a way to participate in the economy of my immediate neighborhood and bridge new relationships with the half a dozen or so shops on my block. Its a pretty weird assortment of businesses- traveling up Milwaukee Ave. from the gallery: the hookah bar where I have never been (don’t do tobacco anymore); Ameer Kabob, which I haven’t patronized after a super-bummer Shwarma experience; the massage salon, which I’ve heard naughty rumors about; Insite Tattoo and Piercing- great guys, though I’ve outgrown such ideas that their store provides; Tennis on the Lake, a constantly morphing, potential pyramid scheme; Kin Sushi and Thai restaurant- the unauthentic kind of place I typically avoid, Lovely coffeeshop- beloved by some, tough I don’t do coffee either, won’t pay $2 for tea, and cannot use my laptop there due to my fried battery and their “no outlets” policy; a greasy Chinese place and the nail salon (neither of which I had been to), and the trusty liquor store. I would accompany the assistants on their shopping spree to document and try my best not to influence their purchases.
Right off the bat, Marcel and Betsy were enthusiastic about getting their nails done. We had to leave Marcel behind to keep the gallery open, so Betsy and I went out first. I learned that she liked to play tennis, so we hit up Tennis on the Lake. The place had apparently expanded into retail- there were a few racks of tennis gear. The camera piqued the interest of the young woman manning the shop and we explained to her the project. She was more interested in the idea of us as artists taking pictures than the conceptual underpinnings of the project. In the end, Betsy thought that spending the money on a cheap tennis racquet would not be a fun enough use of the money. Onward to the nail salon!
Of course, Betsy would inquire about the fanciest nails possible. There was a dazzling array of options- Betsy chose to go with acrylic extension nails, those bejeweled claws that you only see in the windows of nail places. The man who answered her questions and would soon do her nails was having a good go with us- faking out Betsy when she asked if the nails could be trimmed shorter and telling her it would take three hours. It actually did take about an hour, which was quite a bit longer than we expected. There was plenty of visual interest to keep me entertained though, a shrine to Buddha with a variety of offerings, 80’s Nagel-style nails posters, weird incandescent lights for nail drying, a crazy foot jacuzzi station for pedicures. The stages of finish of the nails were remarkable, starting with the sanding of the real nails with a Dremel followed by application of adhesives, the fake nails, and coat upon coat of laquer. The nails turned out pretty cool, high gloss with glitter, extending maybe a quarter inch beyond her normal nails. The manicure cost about $45, so onward the spree continued…
To the liquor store- Betsy wanted the fanciest bottle of booze and Patron was the obvious choice. She went with the small bottle so there would be money left for cigarettes, which apparently cost upward of $10 these days. The change was about $9, which I believe got pitched in for food later.
At this point Marcel joined us. He was hungry and as a former resident of the neighborhood knew about the shortcomings of Ameer Kabob. Kin for sushi it had to be. The space was darkly lit, what would be considered a “clubby sushi joint”. We sat at the bar, the sushi chefs were really cool and Betsy offered them Patron, for which they paused a moment to consider, but declined in the end. It didn’t stop us though, Betsy was generous to pour us all a glass. Sushi and tequila, not a bad combo. Marcel insisted on treating us all to sushi. He demanded their fanciest roll “something not on the menu” in his in-it-to-win-it gestural style. Anything Betsy wanted. And “your grossest roll” for Eric. Great, tempura crunch and cream cheese for my discriminating ass. It was actually rolled in deep fried nori, which was crazy and the whole thing was pretty good in a junk food way. Betsy had some sort of rainbow roll and Marcel had, as he requested, a fancy thing drizzled in this and that sprinkled with fish eggs. He also had Tom Yum, which was surprisingly good. Kin was a lot better than I had expected, go team. More nails…
Marcel wanted one of everything- a different look for each nail and the nail guy seemed happy to oblige his enthusiasm. There may have been a slight language barrier though or perhaps the guy wanted to get us out of there more quickly than a one-of-everything job would have entailed. It was the last hour of their open hours. So Marcel’s initial ambitious project was downsized to the “gel” application in alternating black and yellow to mimic the colors of the design on the can of his favorite 4 Loko flavor. On top of this would be lettering spelling out said brand of alcoholic energy drink. Again, the incredibly elaborate process of the nail finishing, though the gel process seemed to be even more involved. After about an hour the nail guy was still working on clear coats. No matter though, he let us drink Patron in the shop, suggesting we paper-bag-it, but we opted to drink it out of the nifty box that packages the fancy liquor, too much fun. Betsy was unaware of the custom lettering option and insisted that she get her nails monogrammed too- she would have to wait until Marcel’s were complete. Rather than spell out four on one hand, which would not have been the right thing to do at all, Marcel asked to have the numeral painted on each of four fingers on his right hand. LOKO on the left. On either thumb he had the nail guy paint a smily face and a frowny face to commemorate his love/hate relationship with the beverage. They were nice enough to stay open awhile longer to paint “party hard” on Betsy’s nails. Marcel’s nail job cost a little cheaper than Betsy’s which gave him enough money for a cab ride home. I permitted this as he would catch the cab “on da block”.
Betsy inevitably ripped her nail extensions off later that week, which I would likely have done as well. Marcel still proudly sports his, a month later. Love these guys.
Trick or Treat (on da block)
For Halloween this year I gave my assistants each a $100 cash gift- with a caveat, they would have to spend the money only on Milwaukee Ave. between the gallery and Crater liquor store. They both volunteer for me and I have always felt somewhat guilty for this exchange of time and labor (for job experience) without a transaction of cash. They are two of my favorite assistants ever and I am happy to count them as friends beyond our professional relationships, so giving them this bonus felt right. The gesture could also be a way to participate in the economy of my immediate neighborhood and bridge new relationships with the half a dozen or so shops on my block. Its a pretty weird assortment of businesses- traveling up Milwaukee Ave. from the gallery: the hookah bar where I have never been (don’t do tobacco anymore); Ameer Kabob, which I haven’t patronized after a super-bummer Shwarma experience; the massage salon, which I’ve heard naughty rumors about; Insite Tattoo and Piercing- great guys, though I’ve outgrown such ideas that their store provides; Tennis on the Lake, a constantly morphing, potential pyramid scheme; Kin Sushi and Thai restaurant- the unauthentic kind of place I typically avoid, Lovely coffeeshop- beloved by some, tough I don’t do coffee either, won’t pay $2 for tea, and cannot use my laptop there due to my fried battery and their “no outlets” policy; a greasy Chinese place and the nail salon (neither of which I had been to), and the trusty liquor store. I would accompany the assistants on their shopping spree to document and try my best not to influence their purchases.
Right off the bat, Marcel and Betsy were enthusiastic about getting their nails done. We had to leave Marcel behind to keep the gallery open, so Betsy and I went out first. I learned that she liked to play tennis, so we hit up Tennis on the Lake. The place had apparently expanded into retail- there were a few racks of tennis gear. The camera piqued the interest of the young woman manning the shop and we explained to her the project. She was more interested in the idea of us as artists taking pictures than the conceptual underpinnings of the project. In the end, Betsy thought that spending the money on a cheap tennis racquet would not be a fun enough use of the money. Onward to the nail salon!
Of course, Betsy would inquire about the fanciest nails possible. There was a dazzling array of options- Betsy chose to go with acrylic extension nails, those bejeweled claws that you only see in the windows of nail places. The man who answered her questions and would soon do her nails was having a good go with us- faking out Betsy when she asked if the nails could be trimmed shorter and telling her it would take three hours. It actually did take about an hour, which was quite a bit longer than we expected. There was plenty of visual interest to keep me entertained though, a shrine to Buddha with a variety of offerings, 80’s Nagel-style nails posters, weird incandescent lights for nail drying, a crazy foot jacuzzi station for pedicures. The stages of finish of the nails were remarkable, starting with the sanding of the real nails with a Dremel followed by application of adhesives, the fake nails, and coat upon coat of laquer. The nails turned out pretty cool, high gloss with glitter, extending maybe a quarter inch beyond her normal nails. The manicure cost about $45, so onward the spree continued…
To the liquor store- Betsy wanted the fanciest bottle of booze and Patron was the obvious choice. She went with the small bottle so there would be money left for cigarettes, which apparently cost upward of $10 these days. The change was about $9, which I believe got pitched in for food later.
At this point Marcel joined us. He was hungry and as a former resident of the neighborhood knew about the shortcomings of Ameer Kabob. Kin for sushi it had to be. The space was darkly lit, what would be considered a “clubby sushi joint”. We sat at the bar, the sushi chefs were really cool and Betsy offered them Patron, for which they paused a moment to consider, but declined in the end. It didn’t stop us though, Betsy was generous to pour us all a glass. Sushi and tequila, not a bad combo. Marcel insisted on treating us all to sushi. He demanded their fanciest roll “something not on the menu” in his in-it-to-win-it gestural style. Anything Betsy wanted. And “your grossest roll” for Eric. Great, tempura crunch and cream cheese for my discriminating ass. It was actually rolled in deep fried nori, which was crazy and the whole thing was pretty good in a junk food way. Betsy had some sort of rainbow roll and Marcel had, as he requested, a fancy thing drizzled in this and that sprinkled with fish eggs. He also had Tom Yum, which was surprisingly good. Kin was a lot better than I had expected, go team. More nails…
Marcel wanted one of everything- a different look for each nail and the nail guy seemed happy to oblige his enthusiasm. There may have been a slight language barrier though or perhaps the guy wanted to get us out of there more quickly than a one-of-everything job would have entailed. It was the last hour of their open hours. So Marcel’s initial ambitious project was downsized to the “gel” application in alternating black and yellow to mimic the colors of the design on the can of his favorite 4 Loko flavor. On top of this would be lettering spelling out said brand of alcoholic energy drink. Again, the incredibly elaborate process of the nail finishing, though the gel process seemed to be even more involved. After about an hour the nail guy was still working on clear coats. No matter though, he let us drink Patron in the shop, suggesting we paper-bag-it, but we opted to drink it out of the nifty box that packages the fancy liquor, too much fun. Betsy was unaware of the custom lettering option and insisted that she get her nails monogrammed too- she would have to wait until Marcel’s were complete. Rather than spell out four on one hand, which would not have been the right thing to do at all, Marcel asked to have the numeral painted on each of four fingers on his right hand. LOKO on the left. On either thumb he had the nail guy paint a smily face and a frowny face to commemorate his love/hate relationship with the beverage. They were nice enough to stay open awhile longer to paint “party hard” on Betsy’s nails. Marcel’s nail job cost a little cheaper than Betsy’s which gave him enough money for a cab ride home. I permitted this as he would catch the cab “on da block”.
Betsy inevitably ripped her nail extensions off later that week, which I would likely have done as well. Marcel still proudly sports his, a month later. Love these guys.