My sweetheart was not sleeping well and felt anxious. I wanted to make something to help. The only idea I could think of was to write them a song... it could get stuck in their head and they could sing it to themself as they tried to relax and in difficult times. I made it plural so it could be for them and our dog... and anyone else who might like it. The above is a ukulele tab for it. I bet if you know how to play other instruments you can figure out how to translate it. I often, also, play it in the key of G – it’s less mournful that way. If you want it to be more of a pick-me-up, play it in C. As a former flute player I added the breaths. I appreciate the reminders. #breathe [printable pdf available here]
Dirty Little Paws / Pause
oil on canvas, 12”x12”, 2020
Order of the Gingerbread [open] House
Dreamed up by Jessica Gath.
Fleshed-out and inspired by Patrick Jacobs', Raj Kottamasu's, Dan Miller's, Dan Waller's, and Christo Wood's hand skills and culinary savoir-faire.
Materials: gingerbread; royal icing; puffed rice cereal; food coloring; edible silver leaf; marzipan; 22" lens
Portrait of the Order of the Gingerbread House in a 22” lens (L-R): Dan Miller, Christo Wood, Patrick Jacobs, #LibertyLoveDog, Dan Waller, Raj Kottamasu, Jessica Gath
Cooking with Gath [dot tumblr dot com]
Jessica Gath is at home with the hungry.
ivy heart p
It's true, friends. Ivy is just as happy for dogs to pee on it as not (just look at any ivy you see next to/on the sidewalk and you'll see what I mean – it never has those brown patches that grass and other plants get when they’ve been burned by dog pee). So let's plant more ivy!
[BK PKNK]
A wagging dog welcomes you. She takes some turns before landing on either blanket or grass. The sun sets behind buildings that remind Christo of Ghostbusters. Drinks arrive in jars. Sometimes there are pancakes. Perhaps your friends are here when you arrive. If not, you've likely made friends by the time you leave.
surprise guest dinner series, pknk 1; potato chips and olives; cold beet soup with accoutrements (finely-chopped dill, radish, avocado & sour cream); fried chicken and German potato salad; cherry-mango upside down cake
pancake picnic; blueberry, buttermilk pancakes cooked on a "buddy burner" and served with butter and maple syrup; iced tea
pasta tuesday pknk for 2; Chinese homestyle salad (bean thread noodles with Chinese cabbage, cucumbers, cilantro and a soy-sesame-ginger-hot oil dressing); avocado+cucumber maki rolls
flag for a performance heartist
John C. Gonzalez's Sticker Book is a 100 page volume of found photographs organized into a limited edition print book including a subscription of 13 limited edition stickers created by affiliated artists from November 2013 – November 2014. Gonzalez invited a group of 13 artists to create new works for Sticker Book. Each month one artist designs a limited edition sticker and the work is mailed to the owners of Sticker Book. The recipient may then place the sticker on any page within their edition. Each edition of Sticker Book also included a unique sticker designed by Gonzalez. In addition to the Affiliated Artist stickers, there will also be one of a kind unique adhesive prints available for purchase that Gonzalez will create during the subscription period.
Sticker Book artists include: Erik Benjamins, Thomas Willis, Elizabeth Mooney, Francisco Gonzalez, Carlos Jimenez Cahua, Sean Glover, Jessica Gath, Andrew Lee Gonzalez, Adam Parker Smith, Susan Metrican, Kirk Amaral Snow, Jeriah Hildwine, Juanli Carrion
[sticker (for John C. Gonzalez) | tape and pen on a notebook cover, 3.5"x6", 2014]
the french off - a little competition among friends
Cambridge 1, oil on canvas, 16" x 20", 2012
Kangerlussuaq 2, oil on canvas, 16" x 20", 2013
Kangerlussuaq 1, oil on canvas, 16" x 20", 2013
Philadelphia 1, oil on canvas, 16" x 20", 2013
HDH | 2013 deCordova Biennial
HDH residency (for John C. Gonzalez), deCordova Sculpture Park & Museum Biennial Exhibition, 2013
Read Moreiced tea picnic
The Iced Tea Picnic was one of the loveliest experiences I have ever had. If you would like to be invited to the next one (most likely in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY) send me an e-mail. If you like iced tea and/or scones and/or beauty, you will probably love it too.
[Iced Tea Picnic 2013, Larz Anderson Park, Brookline, MA | Photos: DEAD ART STAR & Katrina Grigg-Saito]
tree university
Futurefarmers present Tree University, an outdoor classroom in which deCordova’s fallen trees (originally toppled during Hurricane Sandy) are used to explore all the creative possibilities that can stem from a single tree.
Read Morefalling in [friend] love
Falling in [Friend] Love is a celebration of that magical experience… the one when you realize someone is really your FRIEND!
Read Moreon sincerity
“Gath fuses her practices in painting and performance in a work that positions a self-portrait in the process of making an artwork. The figure is frozen in a moment of creation as she tapes a Mos Def lyric to the floor in the gallery space. Gath’s chosen text sites the inheritance of love and its healthy manifestation in future generations through acts of kindness and artistry.” – Liz Munsell
* “My folks said they wuz in love when they had me
I take the love they made me wit to make…”
[Mos Def lyric* from “Love”, artist tape, oil on board, 2012]
Press for On Sincerity:
2012 Big, Red & Shiny Blog: December 5, Leah Triplett.”On/Sincerity”
2012 Two Coats of Paint: November 24, Sharon Butler.”Quick Study: forgotten, lost, missed and sincere”
we are the world
We Are The World is a celebration of unexpected kindnesses experienced far from home. The artwork takes the form of small conversations.
Read Morebig, red & _______
Big, Red & __________ is part of a body of work called Ten Years of Fun. The artwork is an active celebration of words by word lovers for word lovers (present and future).
Created for the Big Red Shindig by invitation of Big, Red & Shiny.
[favorite/beloved words, dictionary (gift from Samantha Fields), overhead projector, heart-shaped balloons with W-O-R-D spelled out on them in vinyl letters, 2012 | Photos: Carleton Gholz (balloons), James Manning]
Press for Big, Red & ________:
2012 Big, Red & Shiny Blog: September 26, the Editors.”Big Red Shindig Performance Previews”
campaign for good
Are you bored of feeling bad? Do you still have hope for the human race? Join the Campaign for Good—a movement inciting thoughtful and kind actions. Come be disarmed by the generosity of others. Team up with us to spread a shared wish for the world.
Read Morewhat I want to say to you
The concept of What I want to say to you is to catalyze generosity in real time in people’s real lives. I invite attendees/participants to think of someone in their lives and to let that person know – this time in the form of a secret/shared message t-shirt.
What I want to say to you works as a narrative with three stages. First, you are participating right now, as you read this and think of the people in your life and what inside jokes and phrases you share with them – what your secret message could be. The core of the performance is when I embroider the shirt for you. The work ends with the recipients of the shirt receiving and wearing it – whenever and wherever that may happen in the months and years to come.
[shirts, thread, secret messages, order forms, cursive, 2010-2 | Photos: Zsuzsanna Szegedi & Christo Wood]
for you, [w]rapper
"The final destination used to be my main question. But then I looked and all that I was searchin for was present..."
Read Morekindness is contagious
In 2010 I invited several artists to create designs for stickers stating “Kindness is Contagious.” I printed images by seven of those artists on high-quality, glossy, vinyl stickers. I put out the call again in 2011 and printed stickers designed by sixteen artists. I love the designs and I love the stickers. I can’t wait to see the 2012 designs!
If you’ve got a design to submit for this year, send it my way. If you’d like to order some stickers ($.40 each + postage) send me an e-mail.
Many thanks to the participating artists: Bradley Pitts, Hiroko Kikuchi/The National Bitter Melon Council, Clay Ward, Brandon Hinman, Daniel Deluca, Jen Delos Reyes, Eli Mann, Greg Cook, Karen Stein, Matthew Shanley, Liz Perry, Kye Lee, Laura Fortune, Merritt Johnson, Michelle Jones, Raul Gonzalez, Steve Dildarian, Samantha Fields, Sebastien Leclercq, and Tasha Doremus!
the world's smallest cake (only smaller)
[Pencil-eraser-sized, flourless, chocolate cake; hand-crafted aluminum springform pan; wooden cake stand and cover hand-carved by violinmaker Christo Wood, 2010]
J: What kind of cake would you like for your birthday?
B: The world's smallest cake.
J: OK, but what KIND of cake would you like for the smallest cake to be?
B: I don't know. What are my choices?
J: Choose one of each of the following: chocolate or lemon?
B: Chocolate.
J: Cold or warm?
B: Cold.
J: Cream or frosting?
B: Cream.
J: Heavy or light?
B: Heavy.
J: Perfect.
Fast forward three years...
J: What kind of cake would you like for your birthday?
B: The world's smallest cake... only smaller...
[Flourless, chocolate cakes sized 6cm, 3cm and 1cm in diameter; hand-crafted cake boxes and doilies, postcard invitation by Brandon Hinman, 2007]