Audio By Carbonatix
Mixmaster presents “100 Creatives,” in which we feature cultural entrepreneurs of Dallas in random order.
When Karen Weiner opened the Reading Room in Dallas, she turned a new page for the gallery scene, creating a project space unlike anything else that exists here. Her snug little spot in Exposition Park hosts everything from book swaps to art exhibitions to readings, with topics running the gamut from history to the current exhibition that makes a case for the mailman with clever, hand drawn post cards.
Weiner’s background is in bookmaking and photography, and she spent years running the UTD artist residency program with Rick Brettel, which was originally in the South Side at Lamar building. (Now the residency program is known as CentralTrak and is right down the street.) Both Weiner and her Reading Room are two staples on the Dallas arts scene, equally charming and intellectually stimulating. Words and art collide regularly, but with the Reading Room, Weiner found a way to collapse them – to frame them.
How would you describe what goes on at the Reading Room? Gallery exhibitions? Literary events?
Projects.
What was your initial inspiration?
To find/found a venue part library/living room/stage/gallery to experiment with text and image. small, publication/archive driven spaces in other cities were my model.
This keen interest in art that relates to text is not just about words in paintings, right? Why is it important for you to incorporate language into your space?
Well, text can be: captions, titles, content, instructions, dialogue, research, lyrics, Ebay trades,voicemail, and in one case, a weather report….so many things. For me, it stems from an interest in conceptual art for which language is important. It is also an interest in language as material and conversation about art as a necessity. Text can be a painting but usually isn’t. It isn’tabout creating an illusion but about information, ideas. It engages something ephemeral, sometimes performative, and often disrupts assumptions. It often requires time and patience that our current situation does not easily allow. we are an image driven culture, so perhaps I’m fighting back…or just woefully behind.
Humor is important as well. Materials involved over the past 5 years have included: ice,
mushrooms, thread from India, a parachute, a urinal door partition, LFE soundtracks,
soap, an apple pie baked in a briefcase, a worm farm, maps, cross stitch, diamonds
(very tiny ones).
Do you have any events that stand out to you as a sort of epitome of what’s going on at the Reading Room?
Over the past 5 years, there have been 42 exhibitions/performances/programs. The current exhibition of postcards by Jennie Ottinger is mail art, an example that has its roots in conceptual art, and pokes fun at social media. Having Kenneth Goldsmith read the Dallas piece from Seven American Deaths and Disasters was a great honor as well as the performance of a Robert Ashley composition by Nicolas and Andrew Miller (that involved the repetition of the word titanically) and showing a historic 3-panel text piece by Douglas MacWithey. The installation of 300 index cards from Vincent Falsetta’s archive was also sublime. Bookswap is an annual event that gets people talking about books and features 5 minute readings. Each exhibition/program is an exploration into new territory; hopefully, this keeps it fresh.
You studied bookmaking, and have been involved in the arts scene in Dallas for years, do you have a perspective on the intersection or lack there of between a literary and visual art scene in Dallas?
I’m excited that Dallas now has an independent book store (The Wild Detectives) and Will Evan’s translation enterprise. The non-profit Wordspace has been around for a long time. We are fortunate to have the semigloss journal and pastelegram out of Austin. Text in visual art pops up from time to time, as it always has. recently, Patrick Romeo’s sound work at Beefhaus intrigued me (like a poet locked in the bathroom) and the current installation of John Wilcox text work curated by Leigh Arnold is around the corner from TRR. Billboards are popping up as part of Janeil Engelstad’s MAP project. The Nasher presented Sculpture in So Many Words. The Art Foundation organized the collaborative book Fountainhead. Carolyn Sortor organizes a reading group,
Art As Social Wormhole that is social sculpture. Bring it on!
What are we likely to find you reading in your spare time?
At the moment I’m reading Anne Carson whose poems started out as titles to drawings,
got longer and more complicated and eventually the drawings disappeared altogether.
What else should we know about you?
I like lists and am a paper freak.
100 Creatives:
100. Theater Mastermind Matt Posey
99. Comedy Queen Amanda Austin
98. Deep Ellum Enterpriser Brandon Castillo
97. Humanitarian Artist Willie Baronet
96. Funny Man Paul Varghese
95. Painting Provocateur Art Peña
94. Magic Man Trigg Watson
93. Enigmatic Musician George Quartz
92. Artistic Luminary Joshua King
91. Inventive Director Rene Moreno
90. Color Mavens Marianne Newsom and Sunny Sliger
89. Literary Lion Thea Temple
88. Movie Maestro Eric Steele
87. Storytelling Dynamo Nicole Stewart
86. Collaborative Artist Ryder Richards
85. Party Planning Print maker Raymond Butler
84. Avant-gardist Publisher Javier Valadez
83. Movie Nerd James Wallace
82. Artistic Tastemakers Elissa & Erin Stafford
81. Pioneering Arts Advocates Mark Lowry & Michael Warner
80. Imaginative Director Jeremy Bartel
79. Behind-the-Scenes Teacher Rachel Hull
78. Kaleidoscopic Artist Taylor “Effin” Cleveland
77. Filmmaker & Environmentalist Michael Cain
76. Music Activist Salim Nourallah
75. Underground Entrepreneur Daniel Yanez
74. Original Talent Celia Eberle
73. Comic Artist Aaron Aryanpur
72. Classical Thespian Raphael Parry
71. Dance Captain Valerie Shelton Tabor
70. Underground Culture Mainstay Karen X. Minzer
69. Effervescent Gallerist Brandy Michele Adams
68. Birthday Party Enthusiast Paige Chenault
67. Community Architect Monica Diodati
66. Intrepid Publisher Will Evans
65. Writerly Wit Noa Gavin
64. Maverick Artist Roberto Munguia
63. Fresh Perspective Kelsey Leigh Ervi
62. Virtuosic Violinist Nathan Olson
61. Open Classical’s Dynamic Duo Mark Landson & Patricia Yakesch
60. Rising Talent Michelle Rawlings
59. Adventurous Filmmaker Toby Halbrooks
58. Man of Mystery Edward Ruiz
57. Inquisitive Sculptor Val Curry
56. Offbeat Intellect Thomas Riccio
55. Doers and Makers Shannon Driscoll & Kayli House Cusick
54. Performance Pioneer Katherine Owens
53. Experimental Filmmaker and Video Artist Mike Morris
52. Flowering Fashioner Lucy Dang
51. Insightful Artist Stephen Lapthisophon
50. Dallas Arts District
49. Farmer’s Market Localvore Sarah Perry
48. Technological Painter John Pomara
47. Progressive Playmakers Christopher Carlos & Tina Parker
46. Purposive Chef Chad Houser
45. Absorbing Artist Jeff Gibbons
44. Artistic Integrator Erica Felicella
43. Multi-talented Director Tre Garrett
42. Anachronistic Musician Matt Tolentino
41. Emerging Veteran Actor Van Quattro
40. Festival Orchestrator Anna Sophia van Zweden
