A Lot of Art in the Basement

 I had an odd dream last night in which I visited an art show and sale being held in the basement of the Jersey Shore Arts Center, the building where my Studio is.  In fact, that Studio is in the basement as well, so I am very familiar with the environment.   The below photo from 2010 shows that I have been down there for quite a while, and have seen it many times.

Further, I have used the space as a subject in my own artwork more recently.  We had an Open Studio event earlier this year, and needing something to work on as a demonstration piece, I started a new woodcut with a subject I know well.  For the visual, I based it on actual spaces and architectural features found in the basement, to the point that when I recently showed the print to Kaitlyn in the office (education in relief printing, at her request), she recognized some of the basement features that I had employed.  The first proof of the resulting print can be seen below:

It's not exactly the actual architecture of the basement (I rearranged things a bit), but all the physical features are real things.  The idea of holding any kind of art event down there seems kind of strange, as many people are afraid to even go down there.  I have heard many people talk about this, and even on the day of the Open Studio, I heard a number of visitors remark how my space itself was much more inviting and enjoyable (better light, more comfortable and colorful) than the hallways immediately outside.  One visitor even mentioned later that her mother wasn't even sure if they were allowed to do down to the basement, as it looked dark and creepy, but the visitor had spent much time in my Studio and knew it would be fine.  Even before this I had given the piece a working title of Achluophobia, which is the official name for fear of darkness (not to be confused with fear of night).  Surprisingly, there is no official term for fear of basements, even though it is acknowledged as the room in a house that people fear the most.  Of the options given to me by the internet, this seemed most appropriate to the reality.

Anyway, in the dream, nothing was hung on the walls, as it wouldn't be, as there is no hanging system in place.  (the signs seen in to top photo are screwed into the brick walls, done by the building when Molly and I first moved in, a long time ago) Instead, everything was stacked in boxes on the floor, so one had to look through them to see what was there.  I had no boxes of items out there.  No one was supervising this exhibition and sale, so I have no idea how a purchase would be handled. (maybe there was a place upstairs to complete a purchase, of works brought up from the basement)  Some of the work was quite good- it was clear that the artist had put in a lot of work creating the piece.  Some looked low quality.  I didn't buy anything, which may be because I don't have a lot money these days, or maybe because I wouldn't have any place to put it, but some things struck me as worth owning.  And though I didn't recognize any specific area of the basement hallways, the architecture all seemed quite authentic, the kind of bricks and floors I've seen down there- maybe because I have spent time in recent months looking at them in detail as part of drawing them for this print.  

I don't know what any of this means, but it's about art and about this odd basement space I have spent much time in over the past few decades, so I figured it was worth an entry here.  Whether or not this will eventually be turned into another artwork I have no idea.