LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

[June 29th, 2005] ART'S ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

You have got to be kidding! Right?

About 95 percent of the samples in "Art Wars" by Richard Speer [WW, June 8, 2005] are near copies of so called "art" I felt like throwing into the dump-box 33 years ago, at the State Fair no less! My god, I thought art had grown up by now, but the article and the silly "Art Wars Quiz" show that it has not, giving no real meaning to Post-Modern nor New Romantic.

In light of the difficult times for artists finding both funding and live-work spaces, Speer's writeup does no favors. If the intention is a joke, well, so much for movement in the artistic community! My only hope is that the "War" will scuttle each side off the street and into the gutter.

Dennis E. Hoggatt
Northeast 29th Avenue

THE DANGER OF STUDIO APARTMENTS

I read "Creative Bind" [WW, June 8, 2005] with special interest because I've been both a painter and a building inspector/plans examiner in the Portland area for many years. As a painter, I know firsthand how toxic and combustible oil paints and related chemicals are. As an inspector and plans examiner, I know how important it is to have adequate ventilation, fire prevention and emergency exits. That's why modern building codes are so stringent about separating work and living spaces. If Zach [Dundas] had interviewed many artists my age, most of them would have told him of the ailments they developed from the materials they use.

Fortunately, Zach did a pretty good job of explaining the development options, though I think he may have left some readers with the impression that the best option really is to have artists eat with their paint and sleep with their acetylene. He pointed out how uneconomical it is to rehab old industrial buildings like the Columbia Sportswear warehouse, and he told the story of Brian Wannamaker's much more economical rehabilitation of the Falcon Apartments, which provides artists with cheap living space above and work spaces in the basement. If I needed to find a new place with connected living and painting space, that's the first place I would look.

Let's hope that young artists aren't so hung up on the SoHo myth that they think they'll do better work if they live with it 24 hours a day. Reminds me of the myth of dope that has killed so many musicians and held so many others back.

Tangela Purdom
Southeast Ankeny Street