Last weekend was the annual Art Fair on the Square here in Madison, our proud hippy-liberal town’s huge outdoor art exhibition.

(There is apparently also a parallel event of just local artists nearby that I should try to hit next year. I’ll just put that reminder here, in the blog of doom)

Essentially, they close off the square around the Capitol for two days and a ton of artists (and the occasional hack or copyright infringer, as you’ll see) come from all around the country to set up booths and sell/exhibit their work.

In 2008 we went but couldn’t really afford to buy anything, a frustrating look-but-don’t-touch sort of deal.  This year, thanks to the hetero-lifemate’s reasonably hefty salary, we set aside a nice chunk of change to use as folding money.

I took the digital camera and got a lot of shots, which I’ve cropped, resized and posted up on Flickr in handy web dimensions, in sequential order.  Sadly I didn’t get the names of all the artists who made this stuff — think of it as more of an impromptu walking tour of the things that caught our eye, a few of which we purchased to take home.

Here are some of the highlights (and lowlights) of the show:

Dragons! I seriously almost got one of these.

Some neat mixed-media from… someone.

There was a whole booth of this really emo artwork:

Some neat 3D artwork, sort of crocheted paintings.

Now for one of the big lowlights of the show, the ‘work’ of a man named John Booth, who calls himself a painter (airbrush, anyway).

I was actually looking through his prints, thinking of getting one of the Duckie airbrushes for my sister who collects Duckie stuff… when this asshat grabbed me for taking a shot.
Literally. He grabbed me and interrogated me about taking pictures of his derivative airbrushings, and demanded I delete any images of his I had already. I told him I hadn’t taken any, left — then came back and took a few from outside his tent. Which was set up on a public street.

I wasn’t expecting to be accosted for taking a picture on a public street. The best part, though? He airbrushes OTHER PEOPLES’ ART. The Devil Duckie he was so forceful in preventing me from taking a shot of? It’s trademarked! (apparently by a company that makes novelty toys, Accoutrements).

What a douche.   Since it’s apparently original airbrushing (of another person’s design), I don’t know that it’s illegal, but wow.   It’s ok for him to actually COPY another person’s work in another medium for money, but not ok for me to take a picture when he puts that art up on a public street… because he posted a tiny sign up in the corner of his tent.  Which I didn’t see until I went back to get these additional photos.

For the record, it’s well-established law that you have no real right to privacy in a public space, or a public forum held by a city, so Booth can go fuck himself with an iron dick. On the other hand, grabbing someone by the arm without their consent? Not legal!

Uggh. Let’s get the taste of that dubious, copyright-abusing (if not infringing) tool out of our mouths by seeing one of the true highlights of the fair: Jerry Berta

Jerry Berta makes this great sort of ceramic, retro/electronic artwork that I’ve seen around locally (the roommate’s workplace loves his stuff). He often incorporates*working*  neon or electronic components into his work.

This is one of his signature pieces; he makes a light-up, ceramic theatre that actually shows a movie! Seriously (he’s incorporated a little dvd player in the back of the theatre, and you can change the posters/sign on the front, so you can make it show whatever movie YOU like).

Here is a little bank of robots, made in part from old computer cabling.

I actually purchased one of these after an extensive conversation with the esteemed Mr. Berta. We talked about his work, he talked about his enthusiasm for art shows like this, how he makes some of his stuff, he took one of the theatres apart for me to see the screen that shows the movie, etc. When I expressed interest in one of the small (and more affordable) robots, he encouraged me to pick out the ‘most extinct’ device that had gone into making them, as a way to decide.

The robot I actually purchased is made from a Video to S-video converter, which is fairly obsolete, so I think I succeeded. After I told him what I had picked out, he lamented that he actually needed one of those for his old tv, and had cut up the cable without realizing what it was for.

On the other hand, hey, a sale’s a sale.

The Roommate, on the other hand, her dream is to get one of these diners that looks like a fish. (Down toward the bottom of the page, though the one he had at the show was naturally a little different)

To Be Continued in Part Two!