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Form of Indeterminate Purpose by W. Vandoren Wheeler May 3 Social worker dropped it off: only thing left in Dad’s lastest apartment. She said she found it set in the exact center of the living room. Typical Dad, no note. Oblique little trash obelisk. May 7 No contact from Dad for days—no letter, no nothing. No trace, online or elsewhere. He is gone. Gone gone. May 18 I must assume Dad left this worthless trinket for me, but it’s not anything I remember. Started searching through old photographs, scanning backgrounds of snapshots and polaroids. Borrowed a slide projector to cycle through the family shoebox. Late into the night, the carousel’s shu-kah, shu-kah. Stared past us to scan countertops, bookshelves, terra cotta pots-their black holes of soil from which off-green plants spring…. Found nothing. June 11 Sent the mystery token off to a lab. They ran the basics, came back with the obvious: 3.729 ounces, ceramics of unknown origin, 13 gauge steel wire for internal structural support, oxidized by Father Time. “Form of indeterminate purpose.” Wow, thanks. June 16 Not only do I not have any, today I realized I would stomp-squash any hope might sprout. What I do have is this clue. The form is the thing. I can hold it, this solid artifact. This key. I’m turning it into a totem, an unread message. June 22 Sent that stupid mute trash amulet to a better lab, somewhere upstate. Coughed up for the works. June 25 Carbon dating puts it at 1972. Good start, but waiting for results from all available separatory methods: selective precipitation, filtration, complexation, osmosis, Form of Indeterminate Purpose
Forms of Indeterminate Purpose by Van Wheeler Posted March 17, 2024
Profile of powerful Black women. Godhead Preview and workshop
Bring your story ideas and your imagination to this workshop about making interactive webcomics led by Carmi Tronci Bell. Posted March 8, 2024
Image of hero with blue face wearing a winged helmet. Sunkeepers Screening
Part of the Refractions Screening Series made possible through a grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC). Posted February 22, 2024
Glass white and pink pillow, folded and on the floor. Heidi Schwegler | Existential Action Thriller (EAT)
The North View Gallery is excited to announce our spring show, Existential Action Thriller (EAT), featuring new work by artist Heidi Schwegler. Posted February 5, 2024
Painting of person holding out arms with counting hatch marks on the wall behind them. Una Kim | Battlegrounds
The North View Gallery is pleased to announce our January show, Battlegrounds, an exhibition of new work by HARTS (Humanities and Arts Initiative) Artist in Residence, Una Kim. Posted December 16, 2023
Artist Nuria Montiel holding up a print she just pulled. A Conversation with Nuria Montiel
A conversation with Mexican printmaker Nuria Montiel and Alberto McKelligan Hernández, discussing the history of political printmaking in Mexico, as well as the contributions of women artists to this rich artistic tradition. Posted October 17, 2023
Full view of the wrapped mountain installation. Vanessa Calvert | I don’t know about you, but I just want to be held
The North View Gallery is pleased to invite you to experience a work in progress as the artist Vanessa Calvert constructs a new site-specific installation; I don’t know about you, but I just want to be held. Posted September 20, 2023
blue green background and the words call for artists Call for Artists
The North View Gallery in Portland, OR is excited to announce an Open Call for exhibition proposals from artists, collectives […] Posted July 24, 2023
Image of young person sitting in from of Pac Man screens. Where Are We Now: PCC Art Student Exhibition 22/23
WHERE ARE WE NOW, Portland Community College’s 3rd Annual college-wide art student exhibition represents the community’s first opportunity to see new student art made across the PCC District in person. Posted April 22, 2023
Turquoise rectangle with the acronym IRL in multiple shades and tints of red. IRL | An In-Person Show of PCC Student Work from Past Online Exhibitions
An In-Person Show of PCC Student Work from Past Online Exhibitions Posted March 12, 2023