Well That's Cool

Ally is having a MFA in the Book Arts Thesis Exhibition, titled REPRESENT. There will be posters, free books, and possibly hummus, we all know if it’s free David Smith will be there. Get there early & you’ll get the bound book that goes along with the poster portion of the show. The book features all handmade papers, letterpress replicas of mundane ephemera, and a selection of writing by Brian Oliu (I think that is the bright shirt wearing MFA dj guy from Egans). If you don’t know Ally shame on you first but let us give you some background.

• She’s smart, I mean we had to look up what ephemera was, for those not in the know it’s “ transitory written and printed matter not intended to be retained or preserved. The word derives from the Greek, meaning things lasting no more than a day.” , Thanks Wikipedia.
• She works at Oz music and is our music writer here at WTC. We are getting to old to know what the kids are into these days, it’s hard when you spend most of your free time shaking your fist at neighborhood kids and keeping their Frisbees.
• She is working on pursuing two degrees – one a MFA in book arts and another in library science. I know we felt double lucky to get one and for some of us that elusive associate degree still vexes us. Yet still she has had time to be apart of the local arts community.
• She is one of the most positive people we have had the chance to be around and has some really cool tattoos.  
• She drove through snow covered icy roads to bring Bo homemade tamales. Which ranks right up there my friend Martin bringing me a Dark Lord Saban signed box of oatmeal creme pies.
• Her motto on her business cards ” This bitch can print” which makes Mikey’s ” this man can film” seem kinda lame.
• She “aint never been any thing but a winner” as is evident by her trophy almost as big as she was as a child

Does that not sound like someone you want to know? Why not come by the Alabama Art Kitchen(2626 University Blvd) and see some of her beautiful work.  She had this to say in a recent inview with The Crimson and White

““They’re more ‘zine’ in that they’re about components,” she said. “Each piece has a corresponding poster and a corresponding piece of ephemera (glad we gave you defination now aren’t you), like a sticky note. As you walk through the show, you look at a poster, pick up a piece of ephemera that helps decode the poster and put the piece in your book. It gives [exhibit goers] a physical representation of their experience of walking through the exhibit….A lot of what I do involves repurposing, which involves reusing T-shirts and other things as material for making paper,” she said. “For artwork, I might reuse a linoleum block by manipulating an image, changing a color or layering, but the idea is to have it be used more than once.”

The event starts at 6pm and last till 9pm, there are free books, hummus and I have a hunch some mighty cool people what more could you ask for!