All Your Baseman Are Belong to Us

Once again, our semi-monthly Artist Salon introduced us to an inspiration: Gary Baseman. This LA-native is known for his stylized illustrations, paintings, animation, performance art and a non-traditional way to highlight common human conditions like love, pain and gooey sex. "I want to disarm people with my art. I want them to feel their own 'uncomfortableness,'" Mr. Baseman said in a recent LA Times article about his exhibition,'The Door Is Always Open,' at the Skirball Cultural Center. The experience is a replica of his childhood home complete with his parents' actual furniture.

Mr. Baseman's friend, Toby, is a constant travel companion and is often passed around events. Hmmmm... bacteria.

One of Mr. Baseman's current projects is raising funds for the creation of a documentary about the life of his Jewish father, Ben, who fought Nazis in Poland during WWII. To begin the storytelling adventure, Mr. Baseman collaborated with animator Peter Markowski at Kesselskramer LA and South-African duo Die Antwoord. You can watch the video here.

 

  

 

Photos by Erica Johnson.

Artist Salon: Reverend Nat

Our Artist Salons continue. Last week Reverend Nat visited with some of his Communion wine - dry hard cider in this case – preaching the pleasures of the apple. This 6.9%-proof evangelist started his religion in his garage with a flat of apples and a conviction to make a cider that wasn't sweet, but dry and crisp. The result is an exploding small-batch business featuring a handful of non-traditional inventive flavors.

On tap at LAIKA/house (you read that right): Hallelujah Hopricot, which "starts with heirloom American apples as a Belgian wit-style cider steeped with coriander, bitter orange peel and paradise grains, fermented with French saison and Belgian ale yeasts."

Amen, Revered Nat. Amen.

Free draws for visitors.

Photos by Erica Johnson

Artist Salon: Second Story Interactive Studios

Local interactive studio Second Story joined as for the first semi-monthly Artist Salon in May. This team of designers, architects, engineers and storytellers make up one of the world's most innovative studios, and they are located in North Portland. What we learned: Storytelling is the major theme that drives both digital interactions and animation successfully. By adding truth, beauty and authenticity to its creations, Second Story is changing how we play with information in tangible spaces. Cheers, Brainiacs!

In the HOUSE:

Chris Carlson, Interactive Developer

David Waingarten, Creative Director, Storytelling

Thomas Wester, Innovation Director

Daniel Meyers, Creative Director, Environments

Artist Salon: Bull Run Distilling

LAIKA/house neighbor Patrick Bernards of Bull Run Distillery joined us as a guest in our semi-monthly Artist Salon.  He brought tasty liquid treats to sample and talked shop, cocktails and the art of fine spirit making in Oregon. In our glasses:

• Medoyeff Vodka
• Pacific Rum (light)
• Temperance Trader Bourbon

Patrick also came with recipes to toast the spring sunshine.

FIFTEEN

Named for the number of ingredients, Cynar alone has thirteen, this cocktail is beautifully balanced and addictive.

3 oz MEDOYEFF Vodka 1 oz Cynar Artichoke Bitters 1 oz Fresh Grapefruit Juice Server over ice or shake with ice and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a twist of grapefruit.

     

Portland's history is deeply rooted in the consumption of fine spirits, in fact, the city used to be home to the largest bar in the world. Erickson's Saloon was founded in the 1880s and was home to a 684 feet mahogany bar. The two-story house of drink took up an entire block between 3rd Avenue and 4th Avenue on NW Burnside Street.

Cheers!

Artist Salon: Ornana Films

Creativity loves company, so we invite local makers (artist and artisans) to share their passions with us in semimonthly Artist Salons. Guests meet our crew, tour the studio and talk about their craft: animation, film, music, food.. anything they make and all done with a local beer in hand in our Handlebar Saloon.

Kicking off our spring series were the talents behind Ornana Films. Their animated short film (notes on) Biology racked up the honors last year including a SXSW win. Euphonia, their first feature film, premiered at this year's SXSW and is now available on Vimeo.

Jim Cummings and Danny Madden (above) shared their experiences on the short festival circuit, making animation and Kickstarter successes.