Diary of an Art Hand....lete?

Here's breakdown of one person's date on the event of the inaugural Art Handling Olympics:

7:45 am - Wake up and check my look in the mirror - I likes what I see.

7:57 am - eat breakfast consisting of pineapple and yogurt, topped with some corn flakes (I pretend they're Wheaties)

8:21 am - I do my morning stretches, 'cause I'm playing old and I'm dealing with some back pain.

8:35 am - Consider shaving my entire body from the neck down. Might make up for time lost due to back pain, but decide I don't have time for another all day project. Settle on just shaving neck.

9:50 am - Meet up with teammate Sara to head to rendevouz with the rest of team rBad

10:51 am - A united rBad convoy is city bound

11:27 am - Potty break pit stop/detour in the wilds of Westchester County.

Descend here all ye with hopes of glory and fame.

12:42 pm - arrive at Ramiken Crucible, official AHO venue.

1:26 pm - rBad's team photo is taken

The Stripped Screws' striped stockings.

2:05 pm - rBad team knuckle tattooing

2:53 pm - Opening remarks and layout of events from AHO organizer Shane Caffrey

The Nitro Lords!

The all LADEES team, Screw 'Em

The Well Hungs Team.  I only just now got the connection between the team's name and the logo of the horse...It takes me a while sometimes.

AHO official blogger, Paddy Johnson of Art Fag City tweeting the event.

3:15-3:20ish pm - The qualifying event "Special Delivery" begins.  rBad is in the second 6 team heat.

 rBad in the home stretch.  Even though all looks copacetic, at least one of us at the very moment is convinced he is dying, his thighs feel like bundles of stretched out bra straps and he wouldn't be surprised if blood started spurting from his eyes.

 A brave bystander rescues the Quick and Dirty team from a surprise attack by another bystander

 This image and the previous one, courtesy of Rachel von Wettberg

3:41 pm - O god, o god,  god, o god o god, o god, o god.

3:52 pm -  The Well Hungs and the Kings of Cleats participate in the first heat of "Hang This."  I've regained my breath from the grinding ordeal of the Special Delivery.

4:20 pm - The Quick and Dirty and Dept 13 are in heat two of Hang This. And I insured that the dumplings and whiskey I consumed in Special Delivery would stay down by burying them under a supressive layer of cheese balls.

4:45 pm - rBad is hungry so we pack up gear, and head into Chinatown for dinner.

6:12-6:17 pm - Watching the woman from the restaurant trying to rustle an eel out of the tank.  It's a real contest of wits.

6:35 pm - Walking back from the restaurant, we pass the gallery, considering whether we should rejoin the gathered crowd.  Instead we head to the cars for our long drive home, champions, not of of international art handling primacy, but of our own.......whatever.   Really, the Art Handling Olympics is like the Special Olympics in that everyone is a winner.....any other similarities between the two contests, is for the viewer to decide.

I'm not sure what this posting is for.  I just liked the way it fluttered in the breeze.

In the end, the Kings of Cleats take the day with the Well Hungs and the Quick and Dirty also making to the medals platform.

Here's a video piece on the event by the NY Daily News:

For more info and better pics of the event, check out:
The NY Times article and slide show
Art Fag City's exaustive coverage, including  photos by Marina Galperina.

The Pressure is mounting; more details on the Art Handling Olympics

Paddy Johnson from Art Fag City has an interview with Art Handling Olympics founder Shane Caffrey reveals valuable details of this Sunday's competition, including, the menu that is part of the qualifying event: dumplings and shots of whiskey.
The members of rBad are getting psyched with every passing moment.

Get It On!: The Art Handling Olympics @ Ramiken Crucible, March 21 3pm

Periodically, I condition my wallet by working as an art handler at a couple of esteemed art institutions in the area, one of them being the CCS Bard|Hessel Museum. The CCS|Hessel installation crew is fielding a team  (rBad) for the first ever Art Handling Olympics which is coming up on Sunday, March 21 at Ramiken Crucible down in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.  The competition kicks off at 3pm with the Official Opening Ceremony.
rBad, along with r support crew will join some fourteen other 4 person teams will be vying for glory via a handful of absurd feats of skill and endurance indigenous to the often absurd world of art handling and installation.
Think of it as MXC with booze, box cutters and measuring tape.

If you're around the LES that day come show your colors and cheer us on to either said glory, orto immediate and inglorious indignation. 

Oh, It's on, alright.  It's on!