The Memorial Art Gallery here in exotic Rochester, NY has this really cool new exhibit called Extreme Materials* and it’s a collection of works by 40 or so artists from the US, Canada, England and Germany, and the thing they all have in common is that they use non-traditional materials in their works. Non-traditional as in a gown made of (new) condoms, an illuminated portrait created by layers of shipping tape, a “space” created by using thousands of bars of Neutrogena soap, some cool prints done on used coffee filters, a book mined for images (impossible to explain, but I was this close to stealing it), and a massive wave sculpture made from found objects that makes you think about surfing and polution and Star Wars figurines. There’s also a painting done in menstrual blood—ok, it’s not my favorite, but it’s definitely extreme.  

The show is frickin’ amazing and if you live in western New York, you need to see it. (You can also see it all online here.) Trust me, you’ll hate yourself later if you miss it. I was so inspired I knocked out a half a chapter humming along on the post-exhibit buzz. I’m still so up I know I’m going to have a hard time sleeping tonight, but that’s alright, my dreams couldn’t be any better than what I saw today.

So dear readers, tell me, what have you seen or done or heard this week that’s inspired you?

*Actually it’s Extreme Materials 2, but in this case the sequel is as good as the first.