2 from perth

I wonder how they found my number. Is it my blog? My facebook? Did a friend pass it along to you???

favorite messages from tonight

I'm not quite sure why tonight was the night to call, but a whole bunch of people did. Here are a couple of my favorites:

the hello happy line

I just got a string of fantastic messages. Things are a little hectic with the packing and going to Tokyo tomorrow thing, but I'll be sure to post them as soon as I can.

Keep them coming! I love it!

xoxo,
koco

next

Tomorrow is a day for figuring out all I need for what's next. Tomorrow will stretch into the next two days and feel like one and three and two, and I don't know how long or what time it is, all together. When I lay my head down on a pillow again it will be in another place. A place I have no idea about but everyone says that I'll love. It will be my new place, where I live...

I put trust in myself and faith in the adventure of it all. I look onward, squinting my eyes to try to see what lays beyond, and fill in what I can not with all that I can imagine.

The things I want to take with me most, the things I most desire, the things maybe I actually need, never fit in my luggage.

news

The piece I wrote about Amber, and the piece she wrote about me is in a Philly based zine. Check out the pdf.

on the bus

message #8: not "hey bus driver"

message #7: on the bus in Thailand:

bjork + matthew barney

bjork + matthew barney... I wanna watch. Woah.

dirty hoes, lochnagar, & the summer spritzer

The weather is warm and everyone is out and about. This means there a lot more brunch to be had and evening drinks that take me into the night. In the winter I like a nice whisky, red wines, the occasional beer. For summer drinks I usually like a mojito, white wine, something along those lines, but I've recently discovered a few drinks that may just switch up my game completely.

1. The Dirty Hoe
This is a combination of Hoegaarden and Framboise, the raspberry beer from Lindemans. It's light, it's fruity. It's sorta like a beer cocktail, I guess. I love it! I've been ordering them wherever I can, and I love asking for it. "I was wondering if you could make me a dirty hoe." This one pictured above, from Ten Stone, was very pink and heavy on the framboise. I'm a raspberry junkie, but I preferred the one I got at The Plogh; it was more hoeish than dirty.

2. Blueberry Stoli and Soda
Refreshing, clear, fruity. Like a bubbly berry lift. With a lime, just divine! Titty P., whose catch phrase has always been, "Shit, shower, couple of cocktails," introduced this to me last night at Telephone. He knows his way around a bar and I'm so glad he turned me on to this one.  

3. The Royal Lochnagar

The Lady Kiers10 just got back from a week holiday in the U.K. She's been raving about her visit to the Royal Lochnagar Distillery in Scotland. On the ride back to Brooklyn we broke open a little sample and finished it off while catching up on the Real Housewives of New York (total trash--love it).  The Royal Lochnager is quite nice.  It has caused me to consider drinking more whisky in the summer time.

what would a breast say?

I'm coming close to finishing my first sound boob piece--as part of the nipples for breasts project I've been working on. I still need to work on embedding speakers and an appropriate power source, but I'm not too concerned with those elements, they'll be easy enough to work out. I want to have a few that say things, or have music that comes from them, but I'm not sure what a breast would say, or what music would come from it.

If you were in a gallery and there were a large fiber breast sitting on a pedestal, what sounds would you imagine coming from it?

message #6

after the tone: what i think

responses

after the tone: Two responses left on the kocoline that I dug.

Response #2: in the fam

Response #3: the naked intern calendar

nap town for those who don't sleep

I've been meaning to post about 1st Friday in Indianapolis since... well, almost three weeks ago. 

Our first stop was at the Indianapolis Museum of Art for the Project IMA fashion show.  It's part of their show Breaking the Mode that features pieces from the LACMA permanent collection.  Project IMA showed the work of 16 local designers, and a lot of it was pretty out there. They advertised it as a collection of "outrageous / beautiful / irreverent / glamorous " pieces.  I guess some were avant-garde, but a whole bunch of the concepts were just riding the edge of hideous instead of genius.  To illustrate, Project IMA on the left, Issey Miyake on the right. See what I mean? 

The place was packed out for the show, and there wasn't anywhere to park.  It seemed as if it was the event of the decade in Indianapolis.  They had a dj, a handful of gorgeous models, and a couple who were walking in heels for the first time.  Everyone, including myself, seemed to really enjoy the affair despite any of the not-so-nice things I mentioned above.  I'd do it again. 

Next we headed to Fountain Square to check out the Murphy Building.  It's filled with artist's studios and galleries.  I wanted to pop into Alias Gallery to see what street art PEEL Magazine had to display. The opening was also the first book signing party for PEEL: The Art of the Sticker. A lot more of the work was familiar than I expected.  So many of these artists have done commercial work or products. Some pieces were quirky with a humorous edge.  There was also the Obama piece by Shepard Fairey, and the letter from Obama next to it.  There was an interesting mix of people, from the street art kids with big backpacks to the artsy intellectual types.  

I was into what Indianapolis had to offer.  I felt I could get along just fine there for about 4 months without going insane.  

The most exciting work of the night was in the hall upstairs at Big Car Gallery.  The work was called Us By Numbers, a project by Doug Arnholter.   Everyone was invited to pick up some paint and be a part.  I LOVED THIS! I had to get in on the fun.  

We ended the evening with some beer at Rock Bottom Brewery and then some live jazz at the Chatterbox.  This place was a funky little dive bar that reminded me of Philly, in that cozy dirty kind of way.  

People in the midwest are so nice.  Everyone was up for having a conversation, then again maybe it's just the company I like to keep.  I don't know.  But all in all Nap town wasn't as sleepy as I expected.  There are some fabulous little places to eat, a thriving art scene, plenty of bars and chill people to share good times with... I break out in hives at the thought of going to "the middle" (unless we're talking about like Chicago), but as it turns out I'm not allergic to Indianapolis, at all.  

an oldie, but goodie

after the tone message #5: a very young miss koco with her version of happy birthday

reminder

I found this on Market Street in West Philly. I'd love to know who this Kayos character is.

brought to you by the letter B

My Saturday started out lazy. I took my time getting myself together and went to meet the ever so talented Esteme in the park. I was running later than I thought I was so I decided to take a cab.

INSTANT KARMA: The driver saw me, but also saw the two guys half a block closer hailing him too. He paused in front of them for a moment before deciding to pick me up instead. They looked like they were late, and obviously very pissed at what had just happened. I yelled down the street, "Where are you going?" Turns out that they were going to the exact same place I was going, Rittenhouse Square, so I told them to hop in. They insisted on paying for the cab, and on the ride there they gave me some recommendations for good restaurants in the city (B.Y.O.B. places, in their opinion, always have better food). Bonus.

The weather was beautiful, like Philly decided to skip over spring and went right to summer. We chilled out for a bit and then headed over to a BBQ at the Special Situations Corporation (Est. 1962). I met a whole bunch of interesting characters there, including this dude:
I couldn't figure out why he was so familiar until he mentioned that he knew my sister. Strangely enough I recognized him from j9's flickr pics. Crazy visual memory.

I was stuffed with plate after plate of food and one drink after the next--burgers, beer, ribs, fresh fresh veggies, rosemary potatoes, and some delish ginger infused cocktails. Then we headed over to Bob and Barbara's for a special before we decided to do a bit of booty shakin over at Barbary.
As Esteme would say, I was in the streets. When I got home my feet were filthy, total proof of a full day/night of urban trekking in open-toed shoes. My hair held onto the scent of the smoky grill and a couple of bars. Despite that, I sleepily slipped into the sheets thinking that everything was just right. It was all the way a summer Saturday should be.

message updates

after the tone message #3: my throat hurts today


message #4: all the japanese I can remember off the top of my head

a ffantastik message

I love this project.

the 47

after the tone message #2:

after the tone?

I was on the phone the other day when the doorbell rang. I had to get off the phone abruptly, leaving my friend hanging. And then I didn't call her right back because I had plans to go to a cafe with someone else who had just showed up at the door. The message I received later on my phone was, "Who was at the door? a murderer?" I explained myself then received,"I was sure it was a murderer. Or like a pizza guy but from porn."

I love that my favorite people can easily tell me hilarious and fabulous things via cell phone. I'm going to miss this, and that got me thinking. I've decided to keep a phone number in the states so people can call and listen to the message and I'll change the message regularly to keep it interesting. They can leave me messages for me too. I often find myself wanting to make a phone call in the evening when I have minutes if I'm bored. Calling my voicemail will be like checking my blog, but audio based.

You call me anytime on my hello happy line: 1-339-368-KOCO

Ten points to you if you got the "hello happy line" reference. For those who want to listen, but not leave a message, I figured it would be a good excuse for me to learn how to put together podcasts too--very short, 45 second podcasts. Then I'd also have an archive of the messages. The sound quality will definitely be better in the podcast than on the message... I'll have to play with that a bit. I'll figure out how to make in easy for people to subscribe and stuff too. You can also reach me through skype. My skype name is misskoco, of course.

I imagine this will get fun and interesting when I'm in Tokyo or traveling.

So here's the first message:

words

Each one of these words I place here with intention.

I place here each one of these words, with intention.

With intention, I place here each one of these words.

How Philly Moves

I'm gonna get my groove on, why won't you join me?? How Philly Moves will have its first photo session TOMORROW!

How Philly Moves’ is a proposed public art installation celebrating
Philadelphia dance. We plan to host citywide photo shoots over the coming
year and every dancer in the city will be invited to come show us how they
move. Participants will have access to the images of themselves afterwards.
The resulting images will be used to create a photographic and sculptural installation in the newly renovated SEPTA station at 46th and Market Streets. The installation will include a changing digital display component, so all participants will be represented in the final piece.

The project, envisioned by photographer JJ Tiziou and sculptor James Peniston, is one of five finalists under consideration for the commission.

less

I bought a box of granola bars when I was in Canada. When I opened the box there were only 5 bars inside. I thought, "Humph, that's a hot tranny mess. I thought there were at least 8 in here." I considered several explanations. Maybe in Canada they give you less. Maybe I had a memory of a box of 8, but really it's just that I wish there were eight. The box could easily fit more than 5 bars, at least 8 comfortably, so I then thought that the box could be redesigned.

Most of all I considered that the company might possibly be trying to trick me. Use the same packaging, charge the same price, but give me less. Oh... I must be just making stuff up. But then I saw this: both bags of Lays cost $1.49, one is different from the other.

One bag has a quarter of an ounce less of chips, but you probably wouldn't notice because they have the same packaging. I think this is so butt. I want my granola bars, and a full bag of chips, yo. Is this a trend? Have you seen this?

love letter

I went searching for a piece I left behind.

When I was in high school I took a jewelry class. As one of the projects we made talismans out of aluminum foil, plaster and paint. I have a memory of rolling up little pieces of paper with messages on them. I wrote something, but I can't remember what. My memory was that I rolled up the paper and tucked it into the aluminum.

I decided to destroy the pieces and find out what I wrote to myself. I went to Indianapolis and shared this destruction with Ian. We found a random parking lot and we busted them open with my super cute hammer. Much to our disappointment, we didn't find anything. I searched frantically through the mess I had created. Did I put them into the plaster? Did I decide not to put anything inside at the last minute?

I found nothing.

Today, however, I found a letter. It's one of those I wrote to myself to find at a later date. It was written about 3 years ago. The best parts of what I told myself:

Dream bigger. Do more. Let go of things that hurt you and don't make you happy. Love more. Try to express more compassion.

Art will always love you, and so do I.

I found exactly what I needed to hear.

Upcoming Koco Events

I'm leaving for Japan at the end of the month. But before I go I thought I'd show some art.

The Seoul Connect: 12x36

My girl Haelan from Seoul is showing her work in Philly at 222gallery. I love the concept for the show, 12x36: 12 artists, from 3 different cities, take 36 pictures, show them at 3 galleries.

A diverse group of artists from each city will be asked to explore the theme of local space vs. local culture through the use of traditional photography. The exhibition seeks to compare the direct, tangible experience of three different urban spaces through gallery shows in each city as well as an online exhibition.

Healan is a designer and a very fashionable lady. Can't wait to see what she came up with.

The opening in Philadelphia is on Friday, April 4th from 6-9pm. They are at 222 Vine St., phone: 215.873.0750. If you can't make it to the opening, the show is up until May 30th so you can just stop by and check out the work during their regular gallery hours, M-F 11-5.