Approximate L

Last night at Lincoln Cathedral

2009-08-08T11:45:00.000-07:00

... the special service commemorating the mystical poem "The Dark Night of the Soul" by Saint John of the Cross was cancelled.

Should the event have occurred, the price per participant would have been £30, including a cooked breakfast, and up to 80 attendees might have experienced candlelit areas of the Cathedral not ordinarily open to the public as authentic Gregorian chant marked the passing of the hours.

CLOSING RECEPTION

2009-05-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

Please come for a final viewing of APPROX L in its most comprehensive form!

Friday, May 29th
7 PM
@ Worksound Gallery, 820 SE Alder, PDX
Please join us afterward at the Morrison Hotel.

APPROX L incorporates tactics of sculpture, curation, documentation, indexing, sound, video and performance into one tripartite installation work.

Drawing as its subject a name (Lindsay) that has been mired in multiplicity and obscurity since its first recorded attestation in 731 CE, APPROX asks its audience to dig deeper into its seemingly bottomless well of referentiality and tangentiality. At once playful and unsettling, the project mimics properties inherent to any proper name: that which its owner both possesses and is possessed by; specific enough to warrant a capital letter; pointed enough to startle a sleeping body; unruly enough to have to be spelled out; general enough to be repeated in several different places at any one time; intimate enough to enter; fickle enough to be forgotten; and yet final enough to persist long past our times.

WORKSOUND GALLERY HOURS

2009-05-19T17:11:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday
2 - 5 PM

thru month's end

2009-05-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

I invite everyone to make an appointment to come see APPROX L -- a large-scale installation project using video, sound, curation, sculpture and text as means of configuring investigation into the functions & disfunctionalities of proper names -- from now until the end of the month.

Groups especially encouraged.

You may choose to tour alone or with a guide.

Contact me to arrange a meeting time:
ph. 845.417.3845
e. bethany(dot)ides(at)gmail(dot)com

Closing: Friday, May 29.

(Pics by Sam Lohmann -- thanks, Sam!)

NOW OPEN

2009-05-09T08:11:00.000-07:00

APPROX L
Worksound Gallery
820 SE Alder, PDX

Open by appointment.

Please call so that we can figure out a time that works for you:
845.417.3845

Contact Bethany (me) for more info -- email at top, left corner of blog.

what is it

2009-05-02T12:07:00.000-07:00

In this, the first solo endeavor to grace the space of Portland's Worksound Gallery, Bethany Ides investigates both the fixed and transient properties of a proper name, in this case: Lindsay. Entering into written form in 731 as an amalgamation of syllables culled from across the spectrum of Germanic languages, Lindisi initially referred to a geographic province. As the name transformed over time, so did its function. The name that first indicated the boundaries of a particularly soggy portion of Britain, later summarized a patrilineal chain of ancestry stemming from the region, and eventually rose to prominence as the 42nd most popular female name in the US during the 1980's.

Approx L draws an index of this development. The gallery is divided into 3 stages of Lindsay-ness: L Exactitude; Adaptations of L; and, L Beside Itself (adrift, at sea). Surprisingly evasive, the proper name slips away from specificity at every turn. It means this person or this place, comes from this tree and is symbolized by this fabric; appears in toys, in photo albums, phone books. But the more the traveler wanders, the clearer the realization becomes that the destination is, itself, the inability to arrive.

Spearheaded by multimedia artist Bethany Ides, Approx L is cumulative project involving performance, curation, installation, sound and video. Aiding in the process are approximately 15 participants from across the US and Canada all born with (some variant spelling of) the name, plus a coterie of non-natural L[indsay]s who have adopted transitional monikers for the project. One piece on display, entitled "L, Spelled," is, in effect, a show-within-the-show of works on paper by artists Lindsay Benedict, Lindsey Brown and Lindsay Page.

Bethany Ides is the author of several poetry chapbooks, including Approximate L [Cosa Nostra Editions, 2009] and Indeed, Insist (a mystery) [Ugly Duckling Presse, 2005]. Her solo performance work has been presented at venues such as The Brooklyn Museum, PS122 and the Bowery Poetry Club in New York, and at Gallery Homeland, Nocturnal, SoundVision and Disjecta in Portland, OR. With an MFA from Bard College, Ides teaches art theory, time-based art and writing at Pacific Northwest College of Art.

Approx L is sponsored in part by a generous grant from the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) as well as in-kind support from Lansing Linoleums.

Opening reception: May 8, 7 - 10:30 pm
GOLDEN RETRIEVER (Jonathan Sielaff + Matt Carlson) plays at 9.

Opening weekend events co-hosted with visiting artist, Lindsay Benedict:
SATURDAY + SUNDAY, 12:30 - 5:30 pm
Sign-up sheets will be posted at the opening & on the blog site.

Tours held throughout.

Closes: May 29.

I see an OPENING ahead

2009-04-27T12:14:00.000-07:00

APPROX L

MAY 8

Opening Reception:
7 - 10:30

Worksound Gallery
820 SE Alder, PDX

GOLDEN RETRIEVER (Matt Carlson + Jonathan Siellaf) plays at 9

*all weekend events co-hosted by Lindsay Benedict*
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, 12:30 - 5:30

"The Image of Your Face" by Little Llinsy + the Memories

2009-04-26T13:42:00.000-07:00

157 more Bethanys than Lindsays in the 1970s

2009-04-15T08:19:00.000-07:00

Rank Name # %

217 Bethany 12,169 0.0740
218 Trina 12,133 0.0737
219 Joyce 12,012 0.0730
220 Lindsay 12,012 0.0730
221 Joanne 11,979 0.0728
222 Tabitha 11,943 0.0726

Info taken from the U.S, Census extracted from records concluded in February of 1980 cataloging the most popular 1000 names "from a universe that includes 17,089,045 male births and 16,452,700 female births."

THE LINDESIANA SCOTICHRONICON

2009-04-09T14:43:00.001-07:00

(sketch detail)

2009-04-04T10:30:00.000-07:00

The Lost Linden Choristers:
Morgan "Llinsy" Alexandra Ritter (choreography)
Chase " Lynzay" Evans (understudied by Leah)
Patsy "Lindenna" Gelb
Brianna "Lynn Zi" Farina
David "Lindsay" Weinberg

Jeffrey "Lindersei" Baker (camera)
Brandon "Lindeseia" Spradling (camera)

Vocals & arrangement of O-Zone's "Dragostea Din Tei (Numa Numa)" in translation by Lyndsey MacKenzie & the Transitional L's

"My Reverie" by the Larks used with the permission of the spirits

Performed at Gallery Homeland

Full-scale exhibition at Worksound Gallery, Portland, OR
May 8 - 29, 2009

something's happening here...

2009-04-01T07:40:00.001-07:00

recently spotted at PS1 >>>>>

piece by Jonathan Horowitz;

spotted & sent by Lindsay Benedict

Transitional L[indsay]s Align!

2009-03-24T17:28:00.000-07:00

LINDISEASE @ Gallery Homeland, 3/28

2009-03-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

Saturday
March 28
8 PM

@galleryHOMELAND
The Ford Building
SE 11th & Division

Bethany Ides
w/ The Lost Linden Choristers

present the next installment of the ac/cumulative concatenation of
APPROX L

< moving pictures < > moving bodies < > moving mouths < > making motions >

sliding scale: $5 - $10

In this one-night-only performance, natural & transitional [Lindsay]s together comprise a single, obsessive gesture of spelling into being matter that evades specificity by means of continually modifying itself; of becoming becoming.

featuring:

* Chase "Lynzay" Evans
* Patsy "Lindenna" Gelb
* Brianna "Lynn Zi" Farina
* Jason "Lindseit" Powell
* Morgan "Llinsy" Alexandra Ritter (choreography)
* David "Lindsay" Weinberg

looking through a pool, darkly (in a few instances)

2009-03-01T16:54:00.000-08:00

The old Roman city of Lindun is generally supposed to have given the district of Lindsey its name, but the Romans probably latinized the more ancient British name of Lindeseie.

The earliest reference to the place-name is from a dedicatory inscription to Fortuna found at Mainz in Germany and dated to the end of Domitian's reign. This inscription records the name as LINDO, which is the dative form of Lindum. It is very likely that the name Lindum is a Romanised version of the original Celtic, the exact meaning of which is uncertain.

The fore-part of the name lin undoubtedly refers to the pool in the river Witham below the modern castle, which word is recognizable in both modern Welsh (llyn; 'lake'), and Gaelic (linne; 'pool'). The Romanised ending -dum, leaves us with some difficulties, however, as the Romans were in the habit of making the local place-names more easily pronounceable to their civilized tongues by giving them this 'catch-all' ending. The Celtic name for the area could have been Lindo, Lindon, Lindun or even Lindunon, all of which would have different meanings in the Celtic tongue.

When we look at the possible endings of the name among the Celtic languages, we see that there are two general possibilities;

1. Referring to a settlement or fortification on the hill overlooking the pool;
* Gaelic; dun 'fort', 'castle'.
* Welsh; din 'hillfort'; dinas 'citadel'; dyn 'enclosure'.
* Celtic; dunum 'fortified settlement'.
2. In reference to the colour or opacity of the pool itself;
* Gaelic; dubh 'black'; donn 'brown'.
* Welsh; du, ddu 'black', 'dark'.

Try these...
linden linden' lindenan lindenbaum lindenberg lindeneau lindenfeld lindenna lindenstein lindenstrs lindenthal linder linderback linderbeck linderbm linderbusch linderdel lindered lindereling' linderer linderg lindergreen linderinggs linderman lindermann lindern linderot linderott linders lindersay lindersbusch linderson lindes' lindesai lindesay lindese lindesei lindeseia lindeseie lindesey

Often has the writer been asked the question, if the Linzees knew
when they changed from the Scottish form Lindsay or the English
spelling Lindsey, to our system of ending the name with an " ie " or
" ee ", and the use of " z " instead of " s "? Our answer has been
that we could show the precise spelling Linzee for over three hundred
years, while the form Linsee was even older and derived from the
spelling of the name in the more ancient documents and seals. A
few instances will now prove this statement.

(teaser)

2009-02-10T20:03:00.000-08:00

You Can't Take Me

2009-02-09T20:06:00.001-08:00

the image of your face...

and the love of the linden trees...

you can't... you can't... you can't take me...

The Lindesay/Lyndesays broke from my people 500 years ago, or: I may also be a L______

2009-01-27T22:05:00.000-08:00

DSL - DOST Lindesay, Lyndesay. [The family name of the Earls of Crawford.] The title of a herald attached to the household of the Earl of Crawford. — Et per solucionem factam Lyndesay herraldo, ex gracia domini regis … x li.; 1464 Exch. R. VII. 295. Et Endure signifero, nunc Lindesay heraldo nuncupato; Ib. 305. Patricio Leslie, Lindesay Herrold; 1493 Antiq. Aberd. & B. III. 464.

NOW AVAILABLE

2009-01-17T15:09:00.000-08:00

My chapbook, Approximate L, is now available from Cosa Nostra Editions via their website
$10
17 pp
hand-stitched binding
beautiful fine arts printed cover by poet & book artist Mary Hickman
limited edition (75 copies)

hungry for more... (a push)

2009-01-15T10:31:00.000-08:00

I know of several L(i/y)n(d)s(a/e)ys out there who I should be in contact with, but who have not contacted me or whom I have not yet contacted.

I think you/they/we should though. Very soon.

There are more & more increasing ways that people whose first or last name bears a phonetic close resemblance to Lindsay can be involved with Approx L. It could be as simple as recorded phone calls or sending recordings via email. Or it could involve your hands & skills, such as basic construction, lighting design, graphic design, website design, pr consultancy, etc. Or maybe you live in Portland & have a car & would be willing to help cart around people & materials in preparation for the gallery show in May. Or whathaveyou.

Approx L is a team effort that depends on the unruly materiality & improbability of Lindsay-ness. All participants will be credited as collaborators in every increment of the project (performances, videos & installation). Additionally, Approx L serves as a means by which L(i/y)n(d)s(a/e)ys can meet, interact & begin to speculate on their own Lindsay-nature for themselves; amateur sociology.

Please (continue to) point potential participators to this blog &/or my email address listed in rainbows to the right.

I await...

~ Bethany

meta-phone

2009-01-10T06:33:00.000-08:00

moot or mute
- is this your name?

HEPTAGRAMMATON

2009-01-04T12:01:00.000-08:00

with ref. to the tree's pliant bast, >> the lime tree, line-bark, line-bast
from a place name or surname, not a meaning but a saying, near to water or surrounded by

Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma nu ma iei,
nu ma nu ma iei,
nu ma nu ma nu ma iei.
Chipul tau si Dragostea din tei
mi-amintesc de ochii tai.

You want to leave, but you can't take me,
you can't take me,
you can't take me, you can't take me.
The image of your face and the love from linden trees
remind me of your eyes.

Re: THINGS AGENTS WOULD NEVER SAY

2009-01-04T11:51:00.000-08:00

Break Jaw/ I allways take small bites
Saw Fist/ I'm the reason for Spy Clops' legs
Trace/ I've allways wondered what the inside of a shark looks like

-- Legoland message board

conveyor: L

2009-01-02T19:08:00.000-08:00

Run!

2008-12-13T17:29:00.000-08:00

Approx L has legs! Thanks to Portland's Regional Arts and Culture Council, its board & panelists, area politicians, taxpayers, friends & countryones, a generous grant has been awarded to abet continued investigation into mystery monikers.

Calendar

2008-11-22T14:12:00.000-08:00

Approx L as it expects occuring...

DECEMBER
* Cosa Nostra Editions (Iowa City, IA) publishes Approximate L as a limited edition letterpress chapbook... now available for pre-order on the website!
* 19th & 20th - version 1.1 performed in Cabaret Boris & Natasha @ Performance Works NW (Portland, OR).

JANUARY
* Sunday, the 25th @ Gallery 1412 (Seattle, WA).

MARCH
* 21st - for A-New Poetry Series @ DIVA (Eugene, OR).
* performance version 2.0 @ galleryHOMELAND (Portland, OR).

MAY
* installation/video show @ WorkSound Gallery (Portland, OR).

but some sup before sleep

2008-10-18T14:49:00.000-07:00

I found out from a cultural theory piece my friend Robert Fernandez
had published online that Burgerville had a new chicken sandwich that
simulated a drug experience. I thought, "Oh that's right, Robert was
into the idea of Burgerville -- or he would be if they lived here."
So I looked around online myself & found it was true. They had a
commercial. The chicken sandwich was called Acidhead, specifically.
It's made so that when you bite through the crispy coating, the
ground-up chicken insides start oozing all over & this reveals a center
of tiny blue glittery crystals that fall out -- or ooze out -- & go everywhere, making you feel like you're tripping on acid. The guy they used to advertise this, their leading meal in a new series of meals called Annals of Crime, was a nappy, dirty, white, dreaded dude. I watched with interest how the the meal comes with a cheese stick (hot & melty) that's shaped like a dread, or has a dread center, more precisely. I could feel myself using my teeth to skim off hunks of cheese while sliding the dreadlock out of my mouth. I thought, "They sell this stuff??? Crazy!" & I went down to the corner to see for myself the whole Annals of Crime meal lineup.They had them all out, prepackaged like toys in the toy store with everything arranged inside the box against a background depicting the scene & covered with a cellophane window. The other ones (I saw 2 others) were more burger-oriented meals. One was a bioterrorism-themed meal. It had tiny burger worms that carried disease that you could slip into enemy territory to quickly infest everything. Also, envelopes of burger & fake syringes that you could fill with burger. Then there was the serial-killer themed one which was made to look like something along the lines of Silence of the Lambs. It just had a big mound of hastily mushed together meats that were made to look like mini organs or maybe human flesh pounded & stuck onto the burgermeat. No bun, just a huge glob -- a little bigger than a large mango maybe -- of meats so you could feel like a lunatic barbarian when you ate it, I guess. I was most intrigued still by the Acidhead & realized that I'd taken it off the shelf & had had it in my hands for long enough that the employees has forgotten about it, so I stole it & skipped & whirled home, eager for Joseph to get back so he could try it with me

Always when I take gravity-defying leaps in the end, I think everyone
else just isn't concentrating hard enough.

Love,
Bethany

L(i/y)nds(a/e)y all let out

2008-10-05T11:32:00.000-07:00

Approximate L: 1st chapter/1st draft
w/Lindsay Benedict, Lindsey Boldt, Lindsay Kaplan, Lindsay Kennedy, Lyndsey MacKenzie & Lindsay Powell
(Clinton Corner Cafe, Tangent Reading Series, 10/4/08)

memory; disguise, disuse

2008-10-04T09:15:00.000-07:00

Lindsay-ness

2008-08-25T11:18:00.001-07:00

I played a Lindsay:

& I played a Lindsay:

& me, too:

the Lindsay tartan

2008-08-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

... varies from my own family of origin's tartan only very slightly. Use a 2-pronged fork dragged through white pigment across its squares to make a Crawford.

To my knowledge, neither of my parents ever considered naming me any variant of phonetic riff on the linden tree.