Watching the sausage being made

I visited Patrick McDonough again in his temporary studio yesterday to see how he was coming along with his "winter würst/worst weiss" project.

Things are starting to take shape at the 39th Street Gallery. When I visited the studio last week to get the lowdown on what he was up to, I found a large, cuddly teddy bear. This week, it had been eviscerated just in time for Valentine's Day. Patrick had mounted the skin into a hanging sculpture/painting and he'd begun stuffing the fluffy white innards into sausage casings for the sausage chandelier. In addition to making sausage, Patrick will attain domestic bliss by preserving the remnants of his project in canning jars. Movie set snow made from soap flakes and mashed potato flakes will fill the jars along with other detritus from the project.

To combat Snowpocalypse-induced boredom, Patrick has made Lawrence Weiner style coloring books for us to play with indoors. He's also been spray painting the sports page every day with some Ryan McGinley snowflake stencils he found in the New York Times Magazine last week. Check out these beautiful photographs of Olympic athletes taken by McGinley.

Finally, Patrick's been making strange paintings that consist of CMYK colors and geometric patterns.  He says he's inventing a game and making up the rules as he goes along. See if you can figure out where he's going with this! Tech nerds will figure it out right away.

Sports update: The BMW Oracle team brought home the America's Cup to America!  Johnny Spillane is the first ever American to win a medal in the Nordic combined event.

I'm really looking forward to eating real grilled sausages for the closing party on February 28, which also happens to be the day of the closing ceremony fot the Olympics! Coincidence? I think not!  Until then, I'll be visiting Patrick's temporary studio every Sunday to report on the project's progress. All visitors are welcome on Sundays from 11 AM to 5 PM at 3901 Rhode Island Avenue, Brentwood.