When It All Comes Together

Christopher Reiger
"Brewer's blackbirds"
2013

I recently promised this blog's monthly email digest subscribers that I would begin sharing updates about BAASICS (Bay Area Art & Science Interdisciplinary Collaborative Sessions), the non-profit organization that I co-founded and co-direct. Indeed, most of April's Hungry Hyaena posts are synopses of conversations had with some of the artists and scientists participating in BAASICS.3: The Deep End, our upcoming program on neurodiversities, mental illness, and creativity. (Readers can expect more of these vignettes in advance of the Monday, May 6 event.)

I've come to regard BAASICS as an important arm of my creative endeavor; it's a long-term project that provides me with a platform to help make contemporary art and science relevant and exciting to a broad audience. In many respects, BAASICS is a descendant of Synoddity, the cross-disciplinary organization I co-founded with my friend Michael McDevitt during our undergraduate years at The College of William & Mary. Synoddity made a case for conversation and interaction across professional boundaries and was, like BAASICS, animated by curiosity and wonder, something both Michael and Selene Foster, my BAASICS collaborator and co-founder, have in spades. Working on a project you're passionate about is invariably a good thing, but it's a particular pleasure when you team up with fantastic people.

Artist A Day, Flavorpill and Letters From the Inquisition

Christopher Reiger
"Sublime Revelation"
2006
Watercolor, gouache, and marker on Arches paper
27 x 32 inches

Welcome to 2009, everyone! I'm feeling very good about the year of the ox.

I have three quick announcements to make.

1) This past Tuesday (12/30/08), I was the featured artist on Artist A Day. The feature is something of a belated birthday present; I reached my 31st anniversary on December 29th. If you visit the site, please take a second to rate my work (on the right side of the page), as I'd like the feedback. Better yet, add a comment.

2) On the same day, Flavorpill used a detail of one of my earlier paintings - 2006's 'Sublime Revelation" - for it's New York edition banner (Issue 447, December 30th). Although some of the information included in the associated bio is a bit out-dated, this was another pleasant surprise.


3) I will now be an (ir)regular contributer to Letters From the Inquisition. Michael McDevitt, a friend and professional peer for over a decade, invited me to contribute over a month ago, but I'm only now getting around to writing some posts. Michael and I met in 1996 at the College of William & Mary, in Williamsburg, Virginia. During our time at William & Mary, we co-founded Synoddity, a cross-disciplinary arts organization. Synoddity championed generalism over specialization but, acknowledging that our current body of knowledge is increasingly divided and sub-divided, encouraged conversation and exchange across fields. In many respects, Letters From the Inquisition is similarly inclined, and I'm pleased to be a part of it.