The Art Dorks are a cyberspace collective with brick and mortar applications. Originally the brainchild web community of CNN’s Brendan Danielsson, the Dorks quickly evolved into a collective. Their work is really not easy to define; influences range from the 1980’s to the 1880’s and they each bring a different feel to the mix. While Dorks tend to associate with the lowbrow kind of thing, don’t define them by that. All share a love of drawing and whether they make monsters or meat, robots or rabbits, it is work that revels in and celebrates growing up in a pop, sci-fi, kung-fu cornucopia of a culture. My kind of razzamatazz!
I got an email last week from illustrator Richard Downs inviting me up to see him in Nevada City [CA]. He said that he’d be appearing that Saturday as a giant Spanish puppet [Higante] in a children’s parade with his wife Gwyn’s Afro-Cuban drumming ensemble at the annual World Music Festival. How could I refuse, especially on the heels of the Stauffer-stock Karaoke sing-off the night before in San Rafael? It was a hippy- dippy, tie dyed weekend, that’s for sure. Here are a few pix to prove I’m not exactly bull-shittin’ you, man!
Some of the drum ensemble's gear
Downs with the rig under construction
Downs suiting up
Higante gets underway
There were kids and belly dancers and all sorts of carnival/burning man, gypsy types
Another "puppet"
She was leading
It was really hot!
parade overview
The main stage during a break
Another "puppet"
Happy Hippy campers
Richard, Scary and Nano
The sweat soaked Karaoke posse: Stewart Bradford, John Hersey, Scary, Nano, Stauffer, Stauffer's Mom, Hunt and McCauley [kneeling]? Who took this picture? Photo courtesy Robert Hunt
