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By Michael Aushenker
Special to The Lookout

September 16, 2011 -- They called it “Artmageddon.”
Over the summer, “Chain Letter,” an exhibition at Bergamot Station’s Shoshana Wayne Gallery curated by former L.A. Weekly art critic Doug Harvey and Christian Cummings, e-vited 10 artists to participate in the show and pay the invitation forward. Anyone with an invitation could install a piece.

“Artists came and stood in line, some for more than three hours in the sun, to participate in ‘Chain Letter,’” Cummings told the Lookout News. “A very many didn't want to brave the traffic, the lines, or simply didn't jive with the idea and opted out. This, I think, populated the show with an extremely dedicated and admirable arts community.”

Shoshana Wayne wound up with just under 1,600 submissions. Beyond Shoshana Wayne Gallery, two additional galleries, D2 and F1, had to be utilized to accommodate the show. The busy art exhibition enjoyed a packed reception, ran for a month, and, at the end of August, the artists were reunited once more to de-assemble the show.

On the morning of August 24, Brian Bress came to retrieve his contribution. As he signed in with gallery assistant Jacqueline Gion, Ellyn Winslow, nearby, hauled off “Cell 6,” a wire and mesh assemblage.

Ellyn Winslow with her creation. Photos by Michael Aushenkar

Winslow had come down all the way from San Luis Obispo to take part in the show and now it was over. “I already had the idea,” she said. “I needed a deadline.” She finished it in a week and a half.

Winslow said it was worth coming down from her Central Coast home because participating in this show made her feel as if she was “part of an artistic community.”

For a moment, Bress, an L.A.-based artist represented by Cherry and Martin, became distracted as his mutt Deli strayed away.

After reconnecting with the small, black and white dog, Bress crossed Bergamot’s expansive parking lot from one art hangar to Shoshana Wayne to pick up his piece “iPhone,” a block of wood only a couple times larger than an actual iPhone that had been painted and collaged to resemble one.

Bress said he enjoyed creating “iPhone” for the impromptu show, which he saw as “erasing the individuality [in service of] the sum of our parts. It’s one giant assemblage, like a very good episode of ‘Hoarders.’”

Bress brandishes iPhone.

“People [came] from all over California and beyond, artists who caravaned in and camped out in the parking lot, mail-ins, minors, seniors and everything in between,” Cummings said.

“Stylistically, this show was all over the map, a map covering a much larger territory than anyone expected,” said Cummings. “I heard many artists compare the install to Woodstock. Not without hiccups by any means, but an amazing thing to witness.”
Ulitimately, for the co-curator, this show was all about respect.

“I definitely left this experience with admiration for the artists,” Cummings said. “Mathematically, it’s likely a very small fraction of invitees actually participated. I suspect there are far more artists in this city than anyone realizes. Perhaps it’s time we begin to acknowledge this fact and see the myth of scarcity (often perpetrated by markets to create value) for what it is.”

For more thoughts by the curators on “Chain Letter,” visit ChainLetterArt.blogspot.com.