UPCOMING CONCERTS and EVENTS at WED. MAY 4
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THUR. MAY 12
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FRI. MAY 13
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THE LIONEL YOUNG MIDNIGHT MOJOMAMA BAND HOUR
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LEVIN from Page 15
table. “This is a 1970 espresso machine three burner. I had this idea a year-and-a-half ago, to turn this into a steampunk airship.” He shows me how he’s motorized the ship with a spinning rotor blade in back, how it lights up from within the espresso machine and illuminates from within its linen balloon that would presumably hold it aloft. He points out a small metal orb onto which he painstakingly soldered a tiny world map “for the pilot to navigate with,” and indicates the captain’s spyglass beside it. “And what if he happens to blow up?” Mitch asks, not waiting for an answer before picking up a smaller steampunk ship. “He hovers over the water and then he has this little submarine.” The pieces are titled “SS Espresso” and “SS Espresso Bean” respectively, he explains with pride. It’s a wildly detailed kinetic sculpture, made completely from found and recycled objects that Mitch says he’s been collecting for years. This is his latest big project, a perfect example of the kind of art that Mitch has carved out a name for himself with, and a glimpse into how the man’s imaginative mind works. Every single element of this ship, no matter how small or unassuming, has a story and a reason for being there—it all means something, and the longer you look, the more meaning it takes on. “I like to look at all these things and then gather them in my head and then not look at them for a while, and let them go through in this spaghetti sauce in my mind and come out whatever way it comes out,” Mitch explains. He’ll spend uncounted hours collecting parts for his pieces at Resource Central or elsewhere, coming up with ideas for how to improve or evolve them along the way. “That’s how I’ve always worked with my pieces,” he says. And more often than not, the end result is something that’s as bright, thoughtful and electric as the artist himself. In a lot of senses, Studio 5.5 is just another one of Mitch’s eclectic artworks. He shares the gallery space with Susie and Madison, who have their own private studio space above it. But the space where Mitch works is the artist collective side of Studio 5.5—where a rotating cast of wood-workers, ceramicists, luthiers, porcelain artists, welders, jewelers and more rent work spaces from Mitch and all practice their crafts alongside each other. At any one time when you walk into Mitch’s studio you might see him welding a steel sugar skull, while another artist paints fired clay jars, beside another making furniture, and another crafting knives and daggers. It’s a collection of artists and artisans assembled very much in the style of Mitch Levin’s sculptures and signs. And for Mitch, it’s a self-sustaining source of inspiration and influence. “We all work in the same studio space, and even though we work independently there’s crossover there,” Mitch says. In his eyes, artistic influence is constantly happening, both consciously and subconsciously, for everyone. “Walk by anyone in this space, and even if you don’t engage them, you’re going to be influenced by what they’re working on ... We get inspired and we get influenced by art. That’s what artists do.” Contact the author with comments or questions at wbrendza@boulderweekly.com
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MAY 5, 2022
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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE