]]>Person should be well organized, have a strong attention to detail, and have a car they can drive. Some minor lifting and ladder climbing involved. There will be weekly reporting of project status expected. Hours are approximately 3 days a week, 5 hours per day, plus additional weekends or evenings as needed during Machine Project events. $15/hour for first six weeks, then $18/hour.
This part-time job has three main responsibilities:
1. Writing. A significant amount of documents ranging from show proposals, applications, letters, plans, notes, explanations and press releases are generated weekly. These often need to be written in consultation with me for specific tone and style. The most important thing here is to be able to synthesize verbal ideas from me into written form, and quickly.
2. Assist me in phone, email and mail communication. I am involved in multiple simultaneous projects and need lots of help keeping them organized and moving forward.
3. Track and issue reminders for scheduling, meetings, and appointments,
4. Maintain and organize the Machine Project physical space. This place is a total (yet fun!) disaster. We do many events and projects at Machine and stuff is always getting moved around. You will be responsible for keeping everything in order and where it belongs. This involves setting up for events, breaking down after events, conceptualizing and maintaining an organizational structure for the space and activities that we do here. We have an organizational framework in place but it needs constant attention. This extends to unglamourous activities such as running errands, taking out the trash, recycling, etc.
I asked Sam, Michele and Liz who have worked for me to try and describe what it's like and this is what they said:
"Fun work place with interesting subject matter and lovely co-workers (esp Michele and Sam and Liz). Lots of unannounced fun artists and visitors drop in regularly. Criticism is constructive, warm and direct. Occasional free lunch. Tasks are expected to be done quickly, sometimes without a lot of notice or explanation. There is an expectation that you are able to work independently while simultaneously reporting on the status of current, completed and pending tasks. You should enjoy functioning in a collaborative, loosely networked feedback structure. Mark has bursts of mania followed by extensive naps."
To apply, please email resume, cover letter and two references to markallen@markallen.com. Cover letter should explain qualifications, previous experience or knowledge of Machine Project, how you organize your own information and tasks, and interest in job. By reference I mean the phone number and email of someone who can vouch for you, preferably someone that I already know. Please feel free to email me at markallen@markallen.com if you have any questions
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Machine Project
Medieval enthusiasts
modeled in
hyperbolic crochet
invite me to attend
an evening of
experimental heat
Tubes connect a
giant hamster
to a lawn chair
up in space
A bunch of dads
have this
fantasy
somewhere in my box
And it either
heals or
casts you
from the room
]]>Cactus.mp3
Coyote.mp3
I_dont_want_you_to_love_me.mp3
Life.mp3
Hobo'slullaby.mp3
]]>At first I thought this was really terrible, but I shortly realized that this was a great opportunity to fix a major problem, which is the gallery is really to small to hold all the people who come to events, and the back office is much larger than it needs to be. And since the office is trashed anyway, what better time to move the partion wall back 10 feet to make the gallery a whole bunch bigger. Yay!
In another lucky coincidence, my friend Mark Dagget just made a new website for fund raising campaigns called Pledgie, so I went ahead and made a campaign to fund our repair and renovation project. Read more about my plan to renovate and repair Machine and see some photos of the carnage.
Should this all seem terribly uninteresting I can also offer you this insane video sent in by Ryan of a rabbit repeatedly attacking a snake.
]]>Poets Anthony McCann, Joshua Beckman and Emily Dickinson collaborated on a poem just for the occasion.
Uniforms of Snow
The barest chance
leaked through the trees--
a tooth upon our peace.
The wind began to knead the grass.
Another house I burned.
Adventure most onto itself
the soul condemned to hound
and cease to recollect
the chaotic and the good.
I wear my wings--I wear my belt--
a glee posesseth me.
The hours slide by fast and just
through realms and nether realms.
]]>The first is from Xtra magazine by Ken D. Allan, mostly regarding the Machine Project shows at Pomona.
The second is from an interview I did with Joshua Bearman about art and video games in the Believer. Includes a small illustration of my head done by Tony Millionaire. I'd like to call Josh and tell him how much I like the interview but he's in China trying to find a panda to cuddle.
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