GET HUBBIED

I love this work so much it hurts.

click here

Michael, of Sir Michael's Party Rentals and Limousine Service and Catering, kindly sat down with Jon and Kate Mayfield (+Grover) and me, to give us advice and to show us items we could rent from him. This is one of the parts of the planning most alien to me, but that's a part of the fun. Plates, chairs, flatware, serving utensils, platters, tables, glasses, table cloths, lighting - etc etc etc. Even though this wedding is unconventional and will challenge the staid rituals of weddings, it still needs certain things if people are to park, eat, sit, drink, listen, watch and dance.

Michael's energy was infectious- and he will be such an asset. He has provided rentals for countless events at the Center and knows it inside and out, and so does Brian, the event coordinator there. They host as many as 4 weddings a month.

How to stage the wedding? How do you use the rooms and move people around for the ceremony, drinks and dinner? That seems to be the big mystery and challenge - and also not something I've had to think about much in other events I've put together in the past.

The Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock, will be the location for Get Hubbied! Its signed sealed and yet to be delivered. Continued thanks to their entire staff who have been so open-armed and enthusiastic about this wedding project and patient with me, Jon and Liz with all the meetings, questions and time spent. They have even offered above and beyond to promote and house a one month exhibition of all the art works, films and ephemera from the day, the day being: September 24th of this year! So, a very happy announcement indeed.

The exhibition will open 2 weeks after the wedding to allow for film editing, photo printing and organization for the show.

I've told everyone I know this story at one time or another because it touched me so deeply. I was in charge of the visiting artist's lecture series when I was in the grad program at SVA, NYC. There were a lot of characters who came through to say the least (Jeff Koons was a real kick; Schnabel was pretty amusing too though hard to look at with all the ‘work’ he’s gotten done; Christo and Jean-Claude Christo: seemingly not such a healthy marriage there, but they gave 'good talk'). Of all of the talks, Leon and Nancy were the most memorable, perhaps because they didn't talk about their work at all. They held hands in front of all of us bright-eyed bushy-tailed art students and talked about their marriage, their love, over the span of their long careers. Their art work was so different in style and temperament that they never got accolades in the press or in the public at the same time, though the attention they did get equaled out over time. They told us that the most important thing, the most precious, was that they each supported the other during the times that one was ignored and seemingly forgotten while the other was in the spotlight. They said that without their relationship to buoy them, either one of them would have given up their art.

Here's a spin on marriage when you get fed up with the fish in your sea:
click here

And it seems to be catching on in the media's consciousness:
click here

Personal note:

When I came up with the Get Hubbied thing, and many people began to verbally oppose me, including and especially my dad, I stuck to my guns - I needed to find a couple who love each other, who still challenged the whole idea of conventional marriage - AND who still wanted to do it. It was a tall order. There was a millisecond that I thought I should marry myself using the same concept with same group of artists - but thought against it right away. It wouldn't have worked - it would have felt too self serving - and wouldn't have struck as much of a cord - I would have felt silly and I don't think the artists would have been as inspired. Thus and then, my insistence to find the pair deepened. This is the right way to go for me.W

This article makes me feel old since I am so disconnected from that group of younger folk who create whole worlds and different selves on the internet. Though I don't think it would be the right fit for me, it is a good example of how artists are beginning to use their online identities for much more than just connecting with friends or trying to find someone to date).They can choose to be like anyone or anything they can imagine. I would be an owl - see attached image. Check out the article, a couple getting married in fantasy-based ritual within the web:
click here

Bettina's virtual self getting married

Karen Lofgren @ Post
One night only! Friday, the 7th of January
1904 East 7th Place LA CA 90021
7-9 pm

George Stoll at Maloney Fine Arts
Saturday, the 8th of January (Jan 8 - Feb 12, 2011) 2680 S. La Cienega Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90034 6-8 pm

Joshua Callaghan @ Steve Turner
Saturday, the 8th of January (Jan 8 - Feb. 5, 2011) 6026 Wilshire Blvd. LA, CA 90036 6-8 pm

Roger Herman @ Jancar
Saturday, the 8th of January (Jan. 8 - Jan 29, 2011)
961 Chung King Road LA, CA, 90012 6-9 pm

defense of the story on salon.com that finds it valuable to depict real messy lives instead of the typical wedding section fairy tale: click here