In the big picture above, one of our favorite installations from The Transmodern Festival, entitled ‘Inner Space / Outer Space’ by Jen Kirby.

The lines on either side are actually strings with one end attached to the back wall and the other end to the side walls. For reasons still unknown to me, mirrors reside at the focal point.

Kinetic Sculpture pilot Todd Noletto and painter, photographer and Baltimore’s favorite mixologist Jeremy Crawford were spotted looking quite suspect at the Whole Gallery Friday night. What was Jeremy drinking? What was Todd hiding beneath his hat? Who is that guy to their right and why are they all wearing black? Check back here for updates as more information becomes available.

This weekend the much-anticipated 7th Annual Transmodern Festival opened up across the city drawing large enough crowds that dozens of people had to be turned away Friday night at the H&H Building. For those of you who didn’t get to go here are some of the highlights from that evening.

This is an installation entitled ‘Pink and Blue Dilemma’ conceived by Scott Pennington and constructed with help from several friends.

The work represents the perceived insignificance associated in what appears to be menial tasks that may indeed serve a greater purpose, even if difficult to ascertain from the outside.

If you missed the Pink and Blue Dilemma you can catch it with a few modifications on the Midway at Artscape later this summer.

April Daniell Lewis and Issa Lambson were at Transmodern showcasing local vegetation with medicinal properties. Imagine that, someone actually decided to promote the idea of taking charge of one’s own health with domestic weeds found right in your backyard. What will they think of next, healthy school lunches for children? That’s just crazy.

We either caught Alex Ebstein at Nudashank Gallery in the midst of a ritual incantation that allowed her to levitate this metallic sphere or she’s merely arranging a sculpture called ‘Eternal Floatsp’ by New York based artist Benjamin Phelan that creates an electromagnetic field to cause the same effect. You decide.

The ‘Fantastic Planet Play’ performed by The Annex Theater was the must-see event of the evening. Would-be spectators filled the fifth floor and lined the stairwell of the H&H Building in hopes of seeing the highly anticipated performance. This is where we ran into Michael Benevento, Andrew Liang, Anna Ricklin and Will Doane.

We obtained a picture of this guy as he was leaving the first performance of the ‘Fantastic Planet Play.’ As you can see, the side effects of having witnessed the production may include pupil dilation, euphoria, lucid dreaming, and mania. Unfortunately, we would never experience the sensation for ourselves.

The hype for the play was so successful that we were never given the opportunity to see it. The mass of people kept filling the stairwells until festival organizers were compelled to clear the way. “This is a fire hazard! Everyone out!” It is no surprise, then, that we were compelled to leave the building. Outside the line of people waiting to get in stretched down the block. The lesson here is, if you’re going to the next Transmodern Festival, get there early. The annual event is fast becoming one of the most anticipated happenings of the year.

Brenza.

Boh.

Boh.

On our way out we stopped in at Nudashank one more time to admire the creepy eyes being projected on the wall as a part of the Horror Vacui exhibition, when we ran into Justine Seidenfeld and Russ Montgomery. Russ is the winner of this week’s prestigious and highly coveted ‘Hey Did Anybody Ever Tell You That You Look Like a Young Liam Neeson?’ award. Also, we added this picture because we like to say Nudashank. Say it out loud a few times. Nu-da-shank. Feels pretty good, doesn’t it?

Dillon DeGive had grand plans of collecting corks at the Transmodern Festival in order to make a boat. With this boat, he intended to sail down the Chesapeake and begin his career as a pirate. He would like to think of himself as a swashbuckling scallywag with a heart of gold who didn’t rape and pillage as much as made sweet love and borrowed with the intention of returning his booty.

Seriously, after the vodka and lemonade I’m having a little trouble remembering anything past the boat part. Let’s just say I might be imagining the pirate part, though I think we need more pirates these days and I think Dillon would make a fine candidate for the job.

Anyway, we’d love to see the finished cork boat. Maybe take us for sail around the harbor? Let us know.

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