We arrived at Hub Bub, in Spartanburg, S.C., last Saturday evening. Before parking for the night we stopped at a local popular greasy spoon, the Beacon, for a bite to eat. The rain was pouring down as thunder pounded in the atmosphere and bright flashes of lightning cracked all around. As we turned into the parking lot a giant explosion of light and sparks “beaconed” from the lighthouse sign of the restaurant. Amazed by the visual effects of the road marker, we knew we were in for a treat. Our excitement faded slightly as we found our place in the winding line forming a snake in the doorway, and came to learn that a transformer had blown causing the power to go out in the kitchen. We placed our oders with the blind man at the end of the counter who shouted secret Beacon kitchen code back to the cooks and informed us that due to the power outage we would have to eat our chili cheeseburgers and fish sandwiches sans “a plenty”. The fare was decent and we decided we should make another visit to the eatery before we leave town to get the full Beacon experience. By this time the rain had slowed and we moved on down the road to Hub Bub to settle in for the week.
Hub Bub is an arts and events “showroom” (gallery and performance space) that hosts an artist in residency program. The Program provides three pre-professional and emerging young visual artists and one creative writer the opportunity to “live free and create” for 11-months in downtown Spartanburg, SC. Alix Refshauge, the development director of Hub Bub had contacted us about visiting the center on our way out of Charleston, and we decided to take up the offer and utilize their silk screen facilities… .So we have been busy little bees, working in the warehouse, designing and screen printing posters, bags, a zine, and whatever else we become inspired to create. The facilities include a dark room to hold emulsioned screens before exposure, a light box for exposing, a pressure washer for washing out our screens, and space to spread out, where we usually have to find the darkest cubby in the bus to store screens, expose during sunlight hours only, try and fit our screens in the sink or shower for washing, and bump elbows working at our one work/dining table/guest bed. However we cannot seem to escape the upcountry S.C. heat, as the warehouse, like Walter, has no A/C! (Stay tuned for Bob’s do-it-yourself air conditioning currently being developed and installed in our humble home!) Seth has been working on a really nice large 2 color limited edition poster, soon to be debuted on the website, as well as smaller works for our zine. Jamie tried her hand at a run of a 3 color small print inspired by an abundance of locusts we ran across in Arizona…New Mexico…somewhere out in the desert. The fine details and colors really turned out great. Bob has been working on the cover and some pages to “High Five”, a collaborative effort zine detailing a handful of exciting moments from our travels. And I have been printing and sewing a couple of fun new bag designs to put in our etsy shop. We are looking forward to having new work to share on the website with all of Transit Antenna’s friends.
The third Thursday of every month, Spartanburg hosts an art walk throughout the downtown galleries. We decided to see what it was all about and get in on the action. We drove the bus approximately 3 blocks to the corner of Main St. and Wall St. to set up our tables and show off our new digs. The tables were meticulously arranged with Transit Antenna t-shirts, posters, cards, bags and purses, photos, paintings, collages, and all the art we could scrounge up from the bus when the sky grew dark and the temperature dropped a good 15 degrees. Although it was nice to cool down a bit, the gray clouds loomed over our heads and the wind began to pick up; a powerful gust blew across the tables sending our art tumbling down the street and under the bus. Chasing with outstretched arms Seth and Jamie collected our goods from the sidewalk, middle of the road, and under the bus, and we packed up just before the rains came. Thinking the evening was a complete bust we hung out in the bus on the corner and waited for the rain to cease. We slowly began to draw attention to ourselves, an occurrence that happens often in small towns (and even big cities), and visitors started asking the usual “who are you?” “what is this bus about?” questions. We set our tables back up on the corner of Main and Wall and visited with the locals. We gave tours of the bus educating our guests on the veggie oil system, pedal power system, and the ins and outs of living on a bus. We even sold some art! Seth’s parents drove all the way from Clover to take us out to dinner, ending the night with pizza and calzones.
But wait, the night wasn’t over yet. We drove out to Camping World to dump our smelly sewage only to find that the dump-site was locked behind a gate, and made a stop at Wal-mart for more art supplies.
3 years ago
