Allyson May Packer

2010-02-01T11:57:00.000-05:00

2010-01-31T13:55:00.000-05:00

2010-01-31T13:48:00.000-05:00

places between north carolina and new mexico

2009-10-13T00:09:00.005-04:00

August 4, 2009

2009-08-04T13:31:00.003-04:00

It's been a busy summer, preparing for the big move to New Mexico and adjusting to life post-school. I bought a video camera and have been experimenting with some video/sound stuff that will be shown at this month's Suburban Frontier show at the Nightlight performance space in Chapel Hill. Organizing this show alongside my friend Hannah (hannahlamarsimmons.wordpress.com) has been my most time-consuming projects this summer. If all goes well, though, you'll be able to see the fruits of our labors next Friday night. All the info you need is posted below. We hope to see you there!

April 5, 2009

2009-04-05T14:47:00.002-04:00

Whew. Lot's of art-making the past couple of months...been doing some more street interventions, put up a thesis show and made 1,000 books (seriously, let me know if you want one). I also just took my first trip to Chicago and I'm still working on my giant map of everyone I've ever known (yes, you're probably on it). So Scroll on down, friends and check out the artwork!

January 3, 2008

2009-01-03T20:47:00.002-05:00

Hard at work... check out new stuff below the posts.

December 30, 2008

2008-12-30T17:51:00.001-05:00

Got some pictures of my wheatpastes on Wooster Collective! Check woostercollective.com to see.

December 25, 2008

2008-12-25T12:38:00.006-05:00

I've been hard at work the past month (check for new red yarn pictures soon...), so I thought I'd post some pictures of a little wheatpaste project I did with some old letters. Also, I've included a picture from an adventure I took recently to the Creationist Taxidermy Museum and Antique Tool Hall of Fame (that's all one place) in Southern Pines. Take note of the portrait of Ronald Reagan inserted tastefully into the center of the desert-themed taxidermy display. Oh, and one more thing: if you're bored, check out my brother's best of 2008 music blog at

http://theminimumblues.blogspot.com/ . I take no responsibility for his opinions...

November 28, 2008

2008-11-27T15:41:00.005-05:00

So it's been a while since I've updated this thing, but I've just added some pictures of a few of the things I've made lately (scroll down to see). It's been a busy fall working on my thesis, traveling a bit, spending some time with friends, and taking care of a bunny with a broken leg. I'll leave you with some pictures of my travels and some of the animals that have been in my life lately...

Junk store I visited in Greensboro.

Bunny with a busted leg.

My friend's cat, named Paper, who I met on a trip to Asheville

August 4, 2008

2008-08-04T10:16:00.003-04:00

My days here at Elsewhere are quickly winding down, but I've had plenty to keep me busy. This weekend I was able to help on some construction projects in the garden and this week I'll begin assisting in the massive project of documenting some of the Elsewhere clothing collection. Tentatively known as the "Like a Glove" project, we're going through most of the collection, picking out the best articles of clothing, and photographing them on models. I'll be making decisions on what clothing should be included, which can be challenging with such a large collection.

Yesterday, I was able to do a little work of my own on my day off. Using some of the materials I've found at Elsewhere, I continued doing some wrapping of objects. This time, though, I used some of the ribbon that abounds in this place (there's literally a whole room full of it...). For me, it doesn't really give the same effect as the yarn, but I think any picture you take here is bound to be interesting, so I'll leave you with some shots of my work.

August 1, 2008

2008-08-01T09:24:00.002-04:00

This week, things have been much quieter around here. The artist conversation for this Friday night is going to be much lower key than last week: the audience has been invited for a craft night where they'll learn about knitting or mending or bring their own craft to work on. Though there is a lot less preparation that needs to be done, I've been working most of the week on publicity for the event and today I'll be helping to make food for all of tonight's guests. I've also spent some time helping to build a retaining wall for our back alley garden, which has been fun and given me the chance to spend some time outside. Time is flying, though, and after this week I won't have too much longer before I return home and head back to school.

July 28, 2008

2008-07-28T21:01:00.004-04:00

The event friday night went off without a hitch, which is good since we spent the entire day before scrambling around preparing costumes, prepping models and getting last minute props. Now that it's over, I was able to take a short trip home this weekend and have been helping dismantle all of our work from last week and reorganize the space for our next artist conversation. It seems that the constant creation, destruction and reorganization of spaces is a prevalent theme here...Some of this most recent reorganization has involved cleaning out an area where the museum had been storing old mannequins. Most of them are now in pieces and have provided me with a lot of artistic inspiration. Or at least some more interesting pictures for my blog. On that note, I'll leave you with some pictures of the reorganized wardrobe area (complete with wire hanger sculpture) and some interesting mannequin shots.

July 22, 2008

2008-07-22T19:59:00.003-04:00

It's shaping up to be quite an eventful week here at Elsewhere. Despite 100 degree heat and no AC, we're hosting a traveling play, having a couple of new artists coming and preparing for an artist conversation/event Friday night that includes puppets, models and live performance. I've spent the past couple of days have been spent working on publicity for these things and assisting the artist that I've been working with prepare for Friday evening. The "wardrobe" room that we've been working on looks amazing (pictures coming soon). In my free time I've been planning a collaborative video project with one of my fellow interns. I'll give you more info on this once we have some plans... In the meantime, I'll be preparing for a visit from a good friend tomorrow and trying not to think about the heat.

July 19, 2008

2008-07-19T12:44:00.002-04:00

Since my last post, I've been continuing to help organize clothes in the "wardrobe". In the space of just a few days we've been able to organize a massive turnaround, making the room nearly unrecognizable from the picture I posted. I've also been helping out with some gardening in the back alley and last night helped in a performance/artist talk by one of the visiting artists. He built what he calls "an oracle," basically a really impressive machine housed in an old furnace that answers questions from the audience by projecting a laser on a giant Ouija board. This coming week, I'll be doing wore work in the wardrobe and hopefully experimenting with some video work of my own.

July 15, 2008

2008-07-15T18:43:00.003-04:00

I've almost been at Elsewhere a week now and I think I'm finally getting the hang of living in such a crazy place. The past few days have been fairly relaxed since the museum is closed to the public Sunday through Tuesday. I've spent most of my time helping an artist who is doing an installation in "The Wardrobe," essentially a huge room filled with old clothing. It was kind of a mess before he began, so we've mostly been cleaning it all out sorting it by size and color. Ultimately, I'll be helping him construct some sort of sculpture using the clothes and shoes in the space. Tomorrow the museum opens back up and I'll be training to be a docent so I can lead tours. Then, on Friday I'll be helping to host on of the weekly artist talks. I suppose that's all for now, but I'll leave you with some pictures, though I don't think they'll ever be able to really give the full picture of this incredible space...

ps--I also fiiinalllly got around to posting a new and improved version of the Peep Show Video today, if you're interested.

July 12, 2008

2008-07-12T09:45:00.003-04:00

I'm finally beginning to settle in here at Elsewhere, though I have to admit, it's a lot to get use to. I'm not even sure how to begin describing the environment here, but imagine living in a very artfully organized humongous junk store... if that still doesn't help go to http://www.elsewhereelsewhere.org and you can see some pictures. I haven't had time to take any pictures of my own yet, but hopefully I'll have some up soon. The past couple days have been pretty busy just trying to learn the ropes (as I said, it takes a little getting used to) and today we have a bunch of volunteers coming in to help plant a garden in the back alley. Next week I'm hoping I get the chance to dig into some of the bolts of old fabric around here. Alright, it's time for me to go eat breakfast, but I'll be back with some more news and pictures soon.

June 30, 2008

2008-06-30T22:09:00.006-04:00

The past few days (my last days at Franconia) have been pretty crazy. I haven't had time to post much, so to catch you up: Thanks to a freindly junk shop owner who was willing to part with some of his thingsI was able to finish my sculpture and include a lot of found objects. I also finished filming my performance, though I haven't finished the editing process yet. Then, after one last costume party last night it was time for me to fly back home today. I was sad to leave such a great place, but I had a great time and I was able to get some decent shots of my sculpture before I left this morning. In ten more days I'll be off to my next internship, but for now it is time for some much needed rest.

June 25, 2008

2008-06-25T15:33:00.004-04:00

It's my final week here at Franconia and my sculpture is nearly done. I think I have one more day of work ahead of me before I'm finished. Then, I need another day or two to finish filming my performance. Luckily, though, one of my housemates has been nice enough to get up with me at sunrise (around 5 AM) to help film, which makes things a lot easier. I'm sad to be leaving in a few days, but I've also been having a lot of fun. Yesterday I went fishing and swimming and this morning I helped pick strawberries at the co-op where we get our vegetables. I should have some final documentation of my work up in a couple of days, but right now it is late and I must go to bed so I can rise bright and early at 4:30!

June 21, 2008

2008-06-21T21:14:00.004-04:00

The past few days I've been hard at work on my piece. I haven't posted any good pictures of it in a while, so here's some updated photos. Also, I thought I'd include a picture of my adventure into Minneapolis yesterday (this was in the basement of an exhibition space) and also one of a huge spider I spied eating another insect while I was working today.

June 18, 2008

2008-06-18T23:28:00.002-04:00

I believe it is finally hot in Minnesota! The nice weather has afforded me a lot of time to get some work done on my sculpture. If all goes as planned I should be done in a week, which will leave me with a bit of time to relax before I have to go home.

Since my last post, we've gained some new housemates here at the park. Five new interns showed up on Sunday, so things have been a little crazy around here lately. It's been fun getting to know some new people, though, and to have some help with the chores around the park! I think we may be headed back into Minneapolis tomorrow, so I should have some pictures of our adventure to share later in the week, plus some more pictures of the nearly-finished "nest."

June 12, 2008

2008-06-13T09:14:00.003-04:00

After some epic rains on Wednesday, I have been able to get back to work on my sculpture. Luckily, my mud walls weathered the storm just fine and I think I may be beginning to see the light at the end of my mud-brick tunnel. However, I'm kind of sick of writing about that and I'm sure you're sick of hearing about it so maybe I'll talk a little more about what else has been going on. Since the rain on Tuesday put a stop to all of our outdoor activities (i. e. all of our activities) it seemed like a good time to make a trip into the city. We visited the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and saw exhibitions with work from Richard Prince and Donald Judd as well as an interesting exhibition focused on the theme of "suburbia." Even if it was necessitated by bad weather it was still nice to take a break and get back to civilization for a little while.

The weather is supposed to be nice the next few days, so I imagine I'll be spending most of my time working outside or swimming in the river, but as soon as I have some more progress to show, I'll be sure to post some pictures.

June 9, 2008

2008-06-09T13:26:00.003-04:00

Well the work continues... slowly but surely. I'm about halfway finished with the mud walls and I don't think I could be done soon enough. Somehow I don't really see a future for myself in the field of mud brick construction. Luckily, though the weather has finally gotten nice again and I've had plenty to keep me distracted: On Saturday I received a visit from some (more or less) long lost relatives who live in Minnesota and were nice enough to come see the sculpture park, take me to lunch and tell me a few stories about my dad. Then yesterday, I discovered a really great junk shop in one of the nearby towns. I bought a couple of things to use in my sculpture and the owner threw in an old "View-Master" projector for free. It's just like the red plastic View-Master binoculars that I had as a kid (the kind where you insert the cardboard disks with little slides on them), except that it functions as a projector. I'm not exactly sure what I'll do with it, but the bulb still works and it was too cool to pass up. Finally, last night one of my housemates and I threw a dinner party for everyone else at the park. Everyone came in costume and we made fondue, stuffed pears and chocolate-covered fruit. So, in the end I suppose stacking mud bricks isn't so bad, when you get to eat chocolate-covered strawberries at the end of the day.

Bunny, Dinner Party and some mud...

June 4, 2008

2008-06-04T21:15:00.002-04:00

I got started on the mud-building phase of my piece last weekend and I've been hard at work all week. The weather hasn't improved much, but I've been able to work between rain showers and get a lot done. I was also able to squeeze in a swimming trip to the frigid St. Croix river today. My housemates told me the water wasn't that bad. I probably shouldn't have believed them, but it was still nice to wash off all the mud and get a break from the mosquitoes. On that note, it seems all the bugs have decided to come out this week. I've seen spiders, ticks and mosquitoes, but also june bugs, fireflies and millions of little green inchworms. Oh, and (though he's technically not a bug) a baby rabbit who is currently residing in our kitchen... the rest of his family got run over by a lawn mower, so we've been keeping him in a box and feeding him formula out of an eyedropper. Perhaps I'll post some pictures later, if you can bear the extreme cuteness.

I should have more pictures in a couple days, but farewell for now!

May 30, 2008

2008-05-30T14:34:00.004-04:00

This past week has really flown by. It's hard (and also a little sad) to think that my time here is nearly half-way over. My work still seems to be coming along well, though. I'm almost completely done with the outside walls and if it would just stop raining (two days and counting), I could begin the mud-building process. Not all has been lost to the bad weather, though. I've had a chance to work on some drawings and I've also been able to do a little more work with yarn, thanks to the patience and benevolence of one of my housemates who let me wrap him up. Needless to say, wrapping a human is quite a bit more involved than wrapping a twig, but three hours and trip to Wal-Mart later, it was done. For the documentation I tried to stick to photographing the wrapped "object" in its original context. Some of the pictures are kind of interesting and, if nothing else, I think they may serve as a jumping-off point for some further exploration of this idea. I suppose all this rain might not be so bad after all! Hope the sun is shining wherever you are.

May 26, 2008

2008-05-26T20:15:00.003-04:00

Well, its been a rather eventful week as it goes out here. I went into Minneapolis a couple of times with my housemates to see Chris Larson lecture at MCAD and to see a James Turrell installation at he Walker Art Center. Even the weather the past couple of days has been pretty crazy. Yesterday afternoon we had severe thunderstorms with hail and tornadoes and I got the chance to go tornado-chasing with a couple of my housemates! Apparently people out here use their car radios to track the location of tornadoes and then drive around trying to get a glimpse. We drove to the next town over where some had been spotted, but alas we were too late. In all the excitement, though, I had forgotten my camera, so I suppose it could have been worse… maybe next time…

Despite all the distractions, work on my sculpture is coming along a bit faster that I had expected. The picture here shows “the nest” (as it has become known) in progress a couple of days ago. Since then, I’ve been able to build up the fabric quite a bit more so that the walls are nearly solid and the beginnings of a roof-like structure are visible. The weather is supposed to get pretty cold and cloudy the next few days, so I may be doing some more indoor work, but I’ll be sure to post some more recent pictures as soon as things perk up.

Some more pictures, as promised:

2008-05-20T18:03:00.007-04:00

The view across the road, the beginnings of my piece and our home.

Rainy Day...

2008-05-19T18:32:00.005-04:00

Well it is raining here in my corner of the world today, which means that everything at the sculpture park essentially shuts down for the day. In some ways, though, it's kind of nice. It gives us all a chance to rest and reflect, which means I can catch you up on my most recent activities: Yesterday I was able to finally put up the frame for my sculpture which, I'll admit, was immensely gratifying. I still have a long way to go, but just seeing the little frame sitting there under the trees made me feel hopeful. This morning I was able to shovel even MORE dirt and sand for my piece (hazaa!) before the clouds rolled in. Once it started raining, I headed over the border to Wisconsin with one of my housemates for an ever-entertaining trip to Wal-Mart. Bet you didn't know they sold individually packaged hot-dogs already in the bun or industrial sized cans of chocolate pudding, did you? This afternoon I have been able to complete some more sketches, catch up on some overdue correspondence and reorganize my itunes.

Hopefully the sun will be back out tomorrow morning, not only so I can get back to work, but also because the sky here is fascinating to me. A friend of mine told me the other night about the phenomenon of southerners used to living in heavily wooded areas having near-religious experiences when they witness the openness of the midwest for the first time. I think she was right-- I've never really been anywhere else so open, where the clouds taper off into the distance and you can see a storm coming from miles away. Sometimes, when I can see so far into the distance, it almost feels as if I can see the curvature of the earth. However, it has also brought to my attention that my perception of distance it heavily reliant on my surroundings. Case in point: I went for a run yesterday down one of the dirt roads near the park. I saw a silo off in the distance and figured I would run until I reached it and then turn around and run back. 20 minutes later I still had not reached the silo. It was a very long run.

And for those of you back in NC, I'll make sure to take some pictures to illustrate this point as soon as the weather improves. Well, I suppose that's all for now. Happy trails, friends!

PS-- Didn't post this detail picture the other day, but look at the spider at the bottom. He must have crept in there when I wasn't looking.

Dumpster-Diving is a Useful Skill...

2008-05-16T00:52:00.004-04:00

Well, I have been hard at work all week building the frame for my piece and collecting my materials. These tasks have encompassed everything from shoveling dirt to a late night trip to th U of M in Minneapolis for my first experience in dumpster-diving, which yielded a lot of great free sculpture-making materials. Apparently we college kids like to throw out a lot of useful stuff at the end of the semester! On another note, I think I have solved my camera issues so i've posted a few pictures of some smaller things I've been working on. More on the big stuff later...

Getting to Work

2008-05-08T19:46:00.003-04:00

I can hardly believe I have been here almost a week already! The past few days have been busy ones, but I'm finally feeling really settled down at the park. I 'm getting used to all the technical lingo used here and cooking communal dinners with my housemates. My few ventures into town however, have all been interesting to say the least and make me think the culture here may just take me a bit longer...

Work-wise, things are going well. I have decided to combine some earth-work techniques with found materials (think linens, clothing, broken dishes, etc.) to make some sort of nest or burrow-like structure here on the property. I'm interested in investigating some ideas I have about materialism and how it relates to human instinct. Currently, I'm just trying out some basic construction techniques to get the whole thing off the ground. Today I experimented with cob-building, a technique that uses mud, sand and straw to make large-scale structures. If this works out I'll be able to begin construction next week.

Today, my camera decided to stop uploading pictures, but hopefully I'll be able to fix this soon so I can put up some real evidence of what I've been working on. Farewell until next time!

In Transit(ion)

2008-05-04T21:25:00.002-04:00

Well, survived the hail/tornadoes in Chicago to make it safely to the prairies of Minnesota, my new home for the next two months. It was dark by the time I arrived, but I met some new friends, saw Minneapolis for the first time and moved into my new digs. The view the next morning of the sun rising over cornfields filled with enormous sculptures was amazing to say the least. 50 degree weather in May was... not so amazing, but luckily there is lots of work to be done around the park to keep me warm! It's not all manual labor, though -- these peaceful and beautiful surroundings are inspiring all kinds of ideas for the new work I'll be producing. I have a feeling that I'll continue working with fabric and yarn that, though dealing with sculpture that has to be weatherproof is certainly a new challenge. On the bright side, I hear the temperature the next few days is going to be in the 60's, so hopefully the ideas will keep flowing and I'll post some pictures soon.