Jane's World

permanent vacation

2007-10-25T06:37:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a vacation from Jane's World to concentrate on The Janie Jones Archive which is my real passion these days. The Archive will be updated regularly online and will soon be housed in a proper space that can be visited by appointment, hopefully early in 2008.
Jane's World will exist for now as an archive and reference source for links to my favourite artists and writers. I'll probably post again at some point but I can't say when that will be despite dying to write about W magazine's latest Art Issue.
Thanks to everybody for reading over the last few years.

www.janiejones1979.com
www.janiejones1979.blogspot.com

and now for something completely different

2006-10-27T02:28:00.000-07:00

In the eternal quest to try and portray what it's like at Elsewhere I am digressing from the Euro-art world briefly.
I just received a link from my pals down in Greensboro, NC at Elsewhere. A group of grad students from The University of Michigan Art & Design spent some time there and have tons of great photos on their blog ...

Fiction non Fiction

2006-09-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

"Janie Jones at the CoCoCo Lounge" Jane Irwin, 2006 (inkjet print)
Janie Jones will be exhibited in the Fiction non Fiction exhibition at the Surrey Art Gallery from September 8th to November 5th, 2006. The opening reception is on Sunday, September 17th at 2:00pm and yes, you will all be making the 35 minute drive out to Surrey to attend.
The exhibit includes work by David Carter, Adad Hannah, David Hoffos, Jane Irwin, Kelly Mark & Jeremy Turner.

Janie Jones ACA photo shoot

2006-07-07T11:19:00.000-07:00

There's really nothing better than slathering on thick make-up and donning a wig, leggings & a polyester dress and heading out into 90 degree mega humid weather for a photo shoot. Seriously.

It's weird how much this Janie looks like Gloria Swanson when she's not wearing her wig. We did the shoot at Dairy Queen (yes, I frightened children - sorry Guthrie), and in the empty pool of the Shangrila Motel (hhmmmm - how oddly, Sunset Boulevard), and finished with interior shots of Janie and her band back in the ACA painting studio installation. In keeping with the ACA's spirit of collaboration, Melanie Schiff and I collaborated on the photos. It was amazing to be able to work with her and I owe a huge debt of thanks to both her and Janie's band mates, Travis Johns & Bryce Dwyer.

Janie Jones at the Atlantic Center for the Arts

2006-07-05T09:22:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July

2006-07-04T11:10:00.000-07:00

re:union:a flag for the blue states, 2005
Marlene McCarty
3' x 5' unfurled, edition of 19

Paradise Found

2006-06-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

I arrived safe & sound at the Atlantic Center for the Arts on Monday night and all I can say is that it is beyond my greatest expectations. Everyone is working on really smart and interesting projects, the facilities are fantastic, the location is beautiful, the food is excellent. I have many new best friends.
Aside from the humidity contributing to the Bozo the Clown Coif I’m sporting, everything is smokingly awesome.
My work is going really well and I’m feeling like I will be able to bring my art to a new level while I’m here. I had an excellent meeting with Marlene McCarty yesterday. I feel really privileged to have this opportunity to get feedback from her. You can hear her talk about her work on the local NPR station and see it online at Sikkema Jenkins Gallery (who, perhaps not coincidently, also happens to represent several of my other favourite artists: Kara Walker, Vik Muniz & Wangechi Mutu). The women in our group are also really interesting and I’ve had many great conversations about their projects and really good discussions about where Janie Jones can go. Some of them have info on the web so I’ll figure that out and post links to their work.

Ben Wright Installation - Elsewhere

2006-05-31T11:57:00.000-07:00

In the main room of the Third Floor at Elsewhere, Seattle artist Ben Wright created this installation.

3rd Floor at Elsewhere

2006-05-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

These are the stairs to the left of the dollhouse viewed from the 3rd floor landing

the ceiling of the stairwell

stuff on the 3rd floor landing

the view of the main room on the 3rd floor from the entrance. On the right hand side you can see part of Seattle glass artist, Ben Wright's installation.

Elsewhere - 2nd floor

2006-05-25T10:29:00.000-07:00

the second floor landing/"hotel lobby" with the dollhouse. the door behind the dollhouse is the entrance to "Janie Jones'" room & the staircase to the right leads to the dementia of the 3rd floor
The first time I went to Elsewhere, I thought I had enough documentation to give/remember a sense of the place. Later I realized that I hadn't even remotely come close to conveying what it's like there. So this time, armed with my brand new fancy pants digital camera that I had no idea how to use I endeavoured to make photographic ammends...huh? Basically I self crash coursed how to use the camera (thanks Dad for long distance advice) and took 350 photographs which have are now sucking the life force out of the memory of my computer. Little by little I'll post them.

strange events take place in this dollhouse...

Janie Jones

2006-05-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

Elsewhere Artist Collaborative

2006-05-12T07:15:00.000-07:00

I've been in Greenboro since Tuesday night and since my time here is so limited I have been working non-stop on Janie Jones. I'll post some pictures in the next couple of days. Things have changed quite a bit since my last residency. The entire space has been totally (re)organised, including the upstairs. A couple of artists have done some incredible installations.
Sadly, Greensboro has changed as well. Blumenthal's, the crazy old skool clothing store, has been replaced by a hideous loft development and a few of the good little stores & markets are gone...

I don't care what you think unless it is about me

2006-04-15T10:56:00.000-07:00

I can finally share some great news I just received. I have been accepted to work with Marlene McCarty as an associate artist at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. I'm going to be developing my "Janie Jones" project. More about that soon.
Yeah!

Irwin Toys With Punk Nostalgia...

2005-08-16T08:44:00.000-07:00

and the stuff of young girls' dreams.
This is an interview I did with Mari Sasano of The Edmonton Journal about my exhibition at Latitude53. enjoy.
"If the text on Jane Irwin's light boxes seems familiar, think back to your old mix tapes. There they are. Hole. Nirvana. Breeders. The Velvet Underground. The Cure. The Smiths. R.E.M. Embroidered in pink curly script, accompanied by translucent dolls. It's the 40-year-old's version of scribbling lyrics into a diary, and, as it turns out, it's universal! This is kind of a girly thing to do!
JI: I guess so. I imagine men have the same experience, if not marking them in the same way. I used to write letters to my friends or write in my diary - I still do - 'I met this guy last night and it's Sweet Emotion.' That kind of thing. And the little resin dolls are cast from dolls in the '60s and '70s. Inside them, there are little objects related to what the song says. That to me is very girly, to create these shrines to our experiences or relationships. We've all done that.
It's true.
JI: I've always been into music. When I was younger, I was involved with the alternative music scene; my friends were musicians. We'd go out and see bands we heard on the University radio station or read about in magazines, but the local music stations would be playing Boston and Led Zeppelin. And it's harder now, you have to work to find music. But every band has a website and they link to other bands. I end up spending five hours on the computer! Definitely, for this show, I spent a lot of time researching.
How do you pick the songs?
JI: I use a lot of narrative in my work, storytelling. And I'm very interested in music, its ability to convey emotions we sometimes find difficult to express ourselves.
I went through my favourite songs and looked at the lyrics and I was amazed how banal and uninteresting they were. So I picked out sections from lyrics that stand on their own. If you know the song, you might have a personal memory of that, or it can just have meaning on its own. It was quite difficult actually. I did 22 of these and I had 60 songs and eliminated most of them.
Will there be music playing?
JI: Actually, I'm gonna play some songs as "Janie Jones," from the song by The Clash. I'm creating an installation, Janie Jones' room, but she's always had a dream of being a musician. Well, my brother has a recording studio so I recorded five songs, covers by iconic female artists like Kim Gordon, X-Ray Spex, Kim Deal and The Runaways. Five songs, and they're quite...pathetic! But that's part of the charm.
And now you have music to fall back on if this art thing doesn't work for you!
JI: Yeah, it's not much to fall back on! But it's a lot easier for young women now. I dated a lot of guys in bands, but it never occurred to me to play in one."

Jane's Best of North Carolina & Tennessee

2004-12-09T13:43:00.000-08:00

baby-jane-lane
Originally uploaded by jane1000.

Now that I'm back in Vancouver I've been thinking about some of the highlights of my time in the South and I decided to compile my Best of the South List...

Best street to live on in rural North Carolina:
Baby Jane Lane, middle of nowhere, NC

Best Artist Run Centre:
Elsewhere Artist Collaborative - Greensboro, NC

Best Vintage Clothing:
Design Archives - Greensboro, NC
Flashback - Memphis, TN

Best Record Store/'70s Museum:
Shangri-La - Memphis, TN

Best Live Music Venue:
Wild Bill's - Memphis, TN

Best City Museum:
Civil Rights Museum - Memphis, TN

Best Rural Museum:
Bufford Pusser Home & Museum - Adamsville, TN
Floyd Garrett Muscle Car Museum - Sevierville, TN

Best Ribs:
Larkin's on the Lake - Lake Lure, NC

Best BBQ:
the duck special at 223 South Elm - Greensboro, NC

Best Hush Puppies:
Bert's Seafood - Greensboro, NC

Best Biscuits, Grits & Gravy:
The Smith Street Diner - Greensboro, NC

Best Coffee:
The Green Bean - Greensboro, NC

Best Bed & Breakfast Breakfast:
Blair Moore House B & B - Jonesboro, TN

Best Inn Decor:
Blair Moore House B & B - Jonesboro, TN

Best Car Magnet: "freedom isn't free" - "these colors don't run"

Best Reason to Turn Down Local's Offer to Share Insider Knowledge:
Our waiter/local river rafting guide's offer to take us rafting to the location where "that scene" in Deliverance was filmed - Chattanooga, TN

Best Place to Bond With Gnomes:
Rock City - Chattanooga, TN

Most Beautiful Place to Get Road Rage:
The Blue Ridge Parkway - North Carolina

Scariest Place to be a Woman, Gay or Both:
Cumberland County, TN

Best Place to be a Woman, Gay or Both:
Asheville, NC

Freakiest Bug to Encounter in a Bathroom:
Cave Cricket

This unusual cricket lives a life in almost total darkness. But it doesn't seem to mind. Instead of relying on its eyes to navigate through cave passages, the cave cricket maneuvers using its long antennae to "feel" its way and to find food. It resembles other crickets in one important way, however -- it has long, powerful legs for jumping.

COMING NEXT: the film, literature & Music guide to Elsewhere.

Elsewhere Tour

2004-11-28T08:16:00.000-08:00

dollstairs
Originally uploaded by jane1000.

The long delayed tour of the top 2 floors of Elsewhere will take place today. Ross and I leave tomorrow for our road trip through some other areas of North Carolina and Tennessee and I don't think I'll be able to post as much as internet connections will be sporadic.
For the most part, I'll let the pictures do the talking. These are the stairs leading up to the second floor.

2ndfloor
Originally uploaded by jane1000.

when you reach the top of the stairs, this is the hallway. The rooms of this former boarding house area of the building are full of thousand of more objects.

2ndflclothes
Originally uploaded by jane1000.

This giant pile of clothing is one of the most incredible selections of vintage gear I've ever seen and only a small part of the clothes at Elsewhere.

dolldesk
Originally uploaded by jane1000.

This desk is in the hallway of the third floor.

chair
Originally uploaded by jane1000.

On the third floor there is a long thin hallway lined with very small, deep, skinny rooms. Each room has an installation in it. This chair has since been moved downstairs into my installation.

mirror
Originally uploaded by jane1000.

Beside the chair room is the room of mirrors. you can barely see the text that Stephanie chalked onto the walls as part of this installation.

The Yellow Wallpaper

2004-11-23T09:47:00.000-08:00

wallpaper
Originally uploaded by jane1000.

As promised I am starting the tour of Elsewhere. This room is on the 3rd floor.

"There are things in the wallpaper that nobody knows but me, or ever will. Behind that outside pattern the dim shapes get clearer every day. It is always the same shape, only very numerous."
Charlotte Perkins Gilman

road trip

2004-11-22T06:47:00.000-08:00

tracks
Originally uploaded by jane1000.

Every single day I cross these railroad tracks on my walk to Elsewhere and I love this view when I turn my head to the right. I can't explain why but it makes me happy every time I see it. I've been here for 3 weeks and I've been so consumed with working on my installation that I've hardly spent any time outside of downtown Greensboro.
Yesterday I went an a road trip by myself down to Seagrove, which is a very small town on route 705 that's famous for pottery. On the way, I stopped in Ashboro and found the most incredible Antique Mall. Note: Antique malls are saving the small towns of America. This observation is by no means exclusive to North Carolina. Every road trip Ross & I have been on we take secondary highways and avoid interstates and freeways like the plague. This takes us through tons of little towns you'd never see otherwise and always there is a long, hellish drive through a mile or two of crappy little strip mall after strip mall before you arrive at Main Street. This street usually consists of interesting heritage buildings, sidewalks with trees, and is often a shell of its former self except for the antique stores. It's so sad. Greensboro is not a small town. It has a population of 300,000 yet the same thing has happened here. The other night I got lost driving by myself outside the downtown area and it was a total Big Box Nightmare! Without any outstanding landmarks I drove back and forth through a repetitive blur of Pet Depots, Bed bath & Beyonds, Computers Etcs - you catch my drift. I was very happy to make my way back to the beautiful old buildings and unique businesses on lovely tree lined Elm Street.

Obsessed: the Cabinet of Curiosities Speaks

2004-11-18T06:11:00.000-08:00

sign
Originally uploaded by jane1000.

I downloaded "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gillman the other day. I was really into that story when I was younger and spending time at Elswhere made me think of it again. I'll write more about it later because there is a room on the 3rd floor that perfectly illustrates that story. For now, let's just say if it was the 19th Century and I was diagnosed with hysteria, individually inking and stamping each letter in this sign would not be reccomended.

mouth
Originally uploaded by jane1000.

On Tuesday night I finally installed the dress and wig in the window. My piece explores the obsessive nature of collecting objects and the role these objects play in how we choose to order and present our memories, both real and imagined. I am transforming the window space into a fantastical room devoted to exploring the relationship between memory, fairy tales and desire.
I am asking people to look around Elsewhere and then write a response on a piece of fabric which I am going to incorporate into the installation.

There's a big art event tomorrow night where they have a trolley that goes around town to all the openings so I'm hoping lots of people will come by for that. I've had some amazing responses so far. One couple came in and left a really beautiful drawing of a an open birdcage with a couple of feathers floating around it.

The Big Picture

2004-11-12T06:52:00.000-08:00

elmstreet
Originally uploaded by jane1000.

Finally, as promised, here are some pictures of South Elm Street and the exterior of Elsewhere. The building contains two addresses on the main floor (606 & 608)which are about 4,000 sq. feet combined.There are two more floors above so the total space is about 12,000 sq. feet.

elsewhere
Originally uploaded by jane1000.

My work at Elsewhere is an installation in the window (hmmmnnn a very familiar space and Ross, you will be proud to know that I actually washed the windows myself). Things have evolved considerably in the window since I took this photo and I'll post updated images soon.

window
Originally uploaded by jane1000.

People are incredibly friendly in the South Elm Street neighborhood. I walk to Elsewhere every morning and wave and smile at all the wonderful people I am getting to know in the neighborhood.

windowipr
Originally uploaded by jane1000.

sewingbee
Originally uploaded by jane1000.

There is a huge mass of gorgeous fabrics & clothing at Elsewhere and I have have been spending a fair bit of time sewing and reconstructing some of the vintage clothing for my installation. You might wonder why I am wearing 2 sweaters, Glynnis' gorgeous hand-knit scarf, and my trusty Talula fingerless gloves.There's no heat at Elsewhere and it's been pretty cold the last couple of days.
Tomorrow I will take you on a tour of some of the crazy rooms on the 3rd floor and will introduce you to some of our neighbours.

unbridled joy

2004-11-09T12:14:00.000-08:00

Originally uploaded by jane1000.

This is Stephanie and George just moments after George handed her an object from her childhood. Moments of unbridled joy abound at Elsewhere.
I've been getting lots of requests for more photos so I'll work on that and try to get some up in the next couple of days. Huge thanks to everyone who's been checking in. It's great to get feedback.

qui voleur ma rose

2004-11-09T12:08:00.000-08:00

Originally uploaded by jane1000.

Hmmmm. Not sure if I got the french correct but it's a line from Jean Cocteau's film, "Beauty & the Beast." Make no mistake - do not confuse this film with the insipid Disney version. Fantasy and desire are turning out to be important themes in my installation with fairy tales & fables playing a large role. This image is a wig in progress.

"Attention - Work of Art"/"This is Not a Work of Art

2004-11-09T10:49:00.000-08:00

My project is starting to take shape and George was right when he said it would require about a week of time amongst the objects in Elsewhere to develop an idea. It's becoming clear that George, Steph and Josh are really curates in the historical (but not religious)sense that they are "guardians or protectors" of the objects collected here. I guess they are also curators in a modern sense because this space is a kind of informal collection of 20th Century history and they are working their way through documenting and ordering the objects. Interestingly, a curate is also defined as "one entrusted with the cure of souls" which I think applies here as well because I have always felt that found objects contain some trace or sense of past owners and like I said before there is a kind of Miss haversham-esque air of broken dreams to a lot of the stuff here.
The Elsewhereians have backgrounds in Literature and subsequently are interested in the relationship between object & text, which is influencing the nature of my installation. Without going too deeply into it, I'm taking on the role of artist as curator but instead of arranging objects to create a narrative or new meaning, I am manipulating a series of objects before I order them. I also really want to get the community involved so I'm trying to work out a way to do that.
I think I'll also end up referencing artists who have worked with text and I'm hoping that will be the way to draw the public into participating...

3rd floor Elsewhere

2004-11-07T10:02:00.000-08:00

3rd floor Elsewhere
Originally uploaded by jane1000.

This is the 3rd floor at Elsewhere. A virtual treasure trove of fascinating objects. I've spent a fair bit of time rooting through these boxes already and today I will be fine tuning my search to find a small box of plastic flowers that allegedly exists in here somewhere.

Greensboro College Art Show

2004-11-07T09:55:00.000-08:00

Greensboro College Art Show
Originally uploaded by jane1000.

This is Stephanie, George & Josh at an art exhibit we went to last night by the art students of Greensboro College.

Beneath the Valley of Serendipity

2004-11-05T11:52:00.000-08:00

Things started looking up when I saw 3 people at the arrival gate in Greensboro dressed in eclectic attire, holding open, brightly coloured, tattered umbrellas, and carrying a sign that read (ticker tape style), "This isn't the country we voted for. Let's go Elsewhere." I had found my people. My gracious and amiable hosts, George, Stephanie and Josh, took me to the Elsewhere space for a tour. Things were really, really looking up.

Elsewhere is like a dream come true; exactly like I imagined only a bazillion times better. I'm not sure I can accurately convey how amazing it is but hopefully the pictures will help. This is no ordinary thrift store. It was run for years by George's grandmother who apparently would ask prospective shoppers what they were looking for as they entered. If you answered, "just looking," you could essentially forget about buying anything there. The store was full of Collier Brotheresque tunnels of boxes that only she could encyclopedically negotiate. When she passed away, the family, understandably overwhelmed by the sheer mass of objects, shut the doors and left it as it was. A few years later, George & his colleagues came up with the idea of running a think tank, exhibition and performance space in the thrift store.

Nothing is for sale and nothing can leave Elsewhere which immediately challenged my urge to consume because I have never seen such a comprehensive and beautiful mass of vintage clothing in my life. Not to mention literally thousands of toys ranging in age from the 1930's or older up to almost the present day. The fact that all these objects exist in one location is the magic of this project. I could spend years making installations out of this material. I know exactly where to start, but I'm not sure where to stop will be so clear.

The main floor is quite organized but but the 2, yes 2, floors above are something else altogether. Some rooms on the 2nd and 3rd floor are like Miss Haversham meets Tennessee Williams on acid. They are like "Baby Doll," "Blade Runner, " and "Se7en" all rolled into one. There's a room full of mirrors, one stacked several feet high with old army uniforms, and another full of several hundred more items of vintage clothing. As I spend more time there, I'll post photos of some of these rooms. Yesterday, I spent most of my time on the third floor, rooting through boxes and collecting objects for my installation. So far, amongst other things, I've amassed a box of ancient baby shoes, a bag of doll clothing, and a couple of '50s dresses that have seen better days. Today I'm going back in to find plastic flowers and crinoline skirts.