Deb Ris
www.washedup.us

DNA (image name DebRis DNA.jpg)
Size: 66″ x10″ x 10″
Materials: Washed up balloons, street found lamp. Mixed media.

Ballgown (image DebRis Ballgown.jpg)
(There were 2 images sent – one had my picture in it)
Size: 55″ x 16″ x 15″
Materials: Washed up balls & brackets, street found mannequin & construction mesh. Mixed Media.

Water Balloons (DebRis Water Balloons.jpg)
also accompanying video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fd_nf65vZ4
Size: 24″ x 24″ x 12″
Materials: All objects inside of tank were found washed up on the beach.

Patriot (DebRis Patriot.jpg)
Size: 6′ x 35″ x 3″
Materials: All firecrackers, cigarettes, streamers and fishing line were found left on the beaches and streets on July 5th. All fireworks were made in China.

When I saw my first pictures of the Pink Bus, a Pepto-pink double-decker that had previously only existed in my dreams alongside unicorns and cotton-candy clouds, I wanted to get on board immediately. From its overturned bathtub bar covered with melted vinyl records, to a ceiling with an array of lampshades hanging down like stalactites, it is a treasure trove of scraps that have been transformed into an entirely unique and surprisingly homey environment. Unfortunately for me, the bus is parked in Edinburgh, so I sought out its two creators – Reading, England’s Victoria Brook and Caroline Fletcher.

Last December the art world breathed a collective sigh of relief as Art Basel Miami beach got under way. The mood at the fair was noticeably cheerier than 2008, when all the air kisses, hand shakes and fake smiles could not disguise most participants’ fear of the coming apocalypse. Since the recession continued to batter the art market for most of 2009, this year’s fair was still more subdued than the all out bacchanals of years past, but as they say, “the show must go on,” and it did.

Bianca Kolonusz-Partee makes pictures of the things we ignore using pieces of the things we discard. Cezanne painted his Mont Sainte-Victoire over 60 times, Monet recreated his water lilies dozens more. The subject of industrial shipping ports may not seem so romantic, but to Bianca they are every bit as potent. Industrial ports are universal gateways, through which we receive nearly everything we use everyday. Not that we notice them. In fact, you might say we make a point of ignoring them. This is particularly easy in a city like Los Angeles, where the unpleasantness can be easily lost in the endless sprawl of our mega-city. Even in denser cities like New York and San Francisco, where the cranes and docks are unavoidable, most of us are so inured to the sight that it becomes part of the white noise of urban life. We tend to remember the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Bianca believes this is typical: “The average person in LA, unless they live in those areas doesn’t really think about [shipping ports] or see them.” And yet, according to the Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma, the amount of air pollution blowing inland every day from the Long Beach/Los Angeles ports is equal to that generated daily by three million cars. Children in Long Beach face some of the highest levels of asthma and permanent damage to lung development in Southern California. Diesel pollution from the ports’ trains, ships, cargo conveyors and trucks poses such significant risks to local residents as cancer and premature death. “There’s all this processing going on that you can visually see and smell. It’s causing the same amount of pollution and damage as it is in New Jersey, but the San Pedro and Long Beach ports seem more remote.”

Often mistakenly dubbed as the “Mexican Halloween,” Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, holds a special significance to the descendants of the Meso-Americans. Part of a ritual that has been practiced for over 3,000 years, Dia de los Muertos honors death as a continuation of life. Celebrants wear skull masks, called calacas, or face paint to honor deceased relatives and build elaborate altars to fill with offerings for the dead. For all its mysticism, at its core, the celebration is about family and community.